A 54-year-old man has been jailed for three years after he admitted 'grooming' an Acle teenager over the internet.Keith Reynolds, of Pelham Court, Horsham, West Sussex, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to inciting a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

A 54-year-old man has been jailed for three years after he admitted 'grooming' an Acle teenager over the internet.

Keith Reynolds, of Pelham Court, Horsham, West Sussex, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to inciting a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

The charge related to incident which began in May 2009 when Reynolds made contact with two teenage girls from Acle over the internet.

Posing as a 17-year-old boy Reynolds made contact with the girls in an internet chat room, where he was able to obtain the mobile phone number of one of the girls.

Reynolds began sending the girl sexually explicit text messages and invited her to stay with him - despite the girl making it clear she was under the age of 16.

Police were alerted to the behaviour after the girl's mother found the text messages on her daughter's phone.

Officers were able to trace Reynolds through phone records and he was arrested in September 2009. Further inquiries led to him being charged.

Reynolds pleaded guilty to inciting a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity and was disqualified from working with children and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Investigating officer DC Matt Jenkins, from Great Yarmouth CID, said the case highlighted the importance of internet safety.

He said: “It's important to stress that all precautions must be taken when children are using the internet, particularly chat rooms.

“Adults will seek to take advantage of children on-line but there are several ways that children can keep safe.

“Be careful not to give out your personal information, such as your name, email, home or school address and telephone numbers.

“It's also important to remember that people on-line might not be who they say they are, so children should be encouraged to tell their parents or guardian if someone or something is worrying them.

“If any parent has concerns about similar situations they should contact police to report the matter.”

Anyone with concerns should call Norfolk Police on 0845 456 4567. Further on-line safety advice is available at www.norfolk.police.uk