A Midland school teacher who fantasised about having sex with children has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for grooming a 12-year-old girl over the internet.
Peter Mugliston told the youngster he wanted to be "her first" and arranged to meet her at a coffee shop before moving to the more intimate surroundings of a hotel.
But when the Kidderminster Technical College sixth form tutor turned up for his illicit assignation with "Lucy", he was arrested by police.
For the girl he had spent days sending suggestive messages to in a chatroom was really an undercover officer.
Mugliston (55), of Dunnington Avenue, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was jailed after pleading guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court to attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming on or before August 3 this year.
He also admitted possessing a large collection of child porn and asked for 13 similar counts to be considered.
As some of his relatives watched from the public gallery, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin, QC, told the impassive father-of-two that while the banned images showed him to be a "persistent and determined" offender, he had taken his perverted interest in youngsters much further.
"You entered into a dialogue with a child with whom I have no doubt you would have prepared to engage in sexual activity.
"While this is a tragedy for you and your family, and I feel very sorry for them, I have an overriding duty to ensure children are protected from grooming or any kind of sexual exploitation."
The judge added that apart from being imprisoned, Mugliston would have to register as a sex offender for life, be subject to a lifetime ban from working with children, and have his parole licence extended to four years.
The court heard Mugliston first came to police attention after he began an internet dialogue with what he thought was a known paedophile, but was again an undercover officer.
