A BRYNMAWR man who admitted grooming a child so that she would let him take sexually explicit pictures of her was jailed for five years.

Anthony Grout, 58, of Shoemaker Close, had admitted one charge of sexual activity with a child and seven of taking indecent images of a child.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that in January a woman accused Grout of taking photos of her when she was a child.

Some of the photos he took were deemed to be within the most serious category A bracket of indecent photos. The occasional photo shoots he arranged were first undertaken with the victim fully clothed, but they quickly became more sexually explicit.

The court heard he never threatened her with any violence.

He paid her a total of between £700 and £800 for the sessions and stored the images on his computer and CDs, which he kept around his home. Some of the discs were stored in his music collection.

Sentencing him, Judge Gaskell said Grout had abused his position as an adult and that it would have been clear to him that his behaviour was exploitative.

He said: “You started by photographing her from the back and then you moved to photographing her naked.

“There is no doubt what you did had an effect on her. It may well have been that she was flattered by complements and the idea she was photogenic. It is perfectly clear it has adversely affected her.”

On the count of engaging in sexual activity with a child, he was jailed for five years. On other counts regarding his taking sexually explicit photos, which were put into groups on recognition of their severity, he was sentenced to four years, 16 months and 12 months respectively. The sentences will run concurrently.

The judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order on Grout. He must not own a device that can store images which police are unable to monitor and must not live with a child under 16 without their parents' permission. He must have no contact with his victim.

In mitigation, Tracey Lloyd-Nesling said Grout had shown “genuine remorse” and had co-operated with police when the allegations had been made by the victim in January.

Ms Lloyd-Nesling said: “He looks back and accepts his behaviour was grooming. He did not accept it at the time. It is a small but important step to self-realisation to realise why he did what he did.”