A PENSIONER conceded he sounded like a ‘dirty, old man’ after grooming a 12-year-old girl online, saying he ‘loved her’.

Leslie Gaul was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (September 3) after pleading guilty to one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child between August 26 and September 14 last year.

The 71-year-old was caught messaging the young girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on Facebook, trying to arrange for her to come to his home in Green Road, Didcot, for ‘some fun’.

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Judge Ian Pringle handed him a 10-month prison sentence, saying: “You built up trust over quite a huge number of months.

“I regard that as grooming behaviour by you.”

Leslie Gaul via FacebookLeslie Gaul via Facebook (Image: Leslie Gaul/Facebook)

During the sentencing, prosecutor Sheilagh Davies said Gaul was known to the girl and had been trusted by her family to take her out on day trips.

He also bought her expensive gifts such as trainers and a £200 bicycle.

Soon, the pensioner turned to Facebook to message the 12-year-old, telling her he ‘loved her’, that she ‘has a beautiful body’ and to ‘come round for fun’ before urging her not to tell anyone because it would ‘f*** him up’.

Gaul, on one occasion, had also asked the girl to kiss him on the cheek.

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The girl’s mother became concerned when spotting the messages and alerted police, leading to Gaul’s arrest.

Upon arrest, he was found with a condom and a bottle of lubrication but he told police he had not intended to use this on the girl.

He told officers he ‘must have sent the messages drunk’ and conceded that the sounded like a ‘dirty, old man’.

The defendant said he ‘wasn’t a paedophile’ but stated he ‘probably found her attractive when he was drunk not when he sober’.

In a victim impact statement read out to court, the girl wrote: “I’m scared to see [Gaul] again after what he’s done to me.

“I find what he’s done disgusting. I didn’t realise it at the time. I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.

“I sometimes feel like I’ve done something wrong.”

The court heard that Gaul was unrepresented and had been given numerous chances to ‘put his solicitor in funds’.

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When asked if he’d like to say anything, Gaul said: “It happened and I apologise for everything. There will no be contact whatsoever.

“I’m sorry, very sorry.”

Judge Pringle also ordered a restraining order against Gaul not to contact the victim and he was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.