An Eltham paedophile who exploited a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for 11 years and three months.

Kerien Rudland, 24, was described by police as "without doubt a serious danger to children" who began his grooming online before quickly progressing to sexual contact.

Rudland, of Alwold Crescent in Eltham, south east London, met his victim, a 13-year-old girl from Brighton, online.

They then met up on Sunday, February 10, 2019, in Brighton where he engaged in sexual activity with her on the beach and on a train with her on the way back to London.

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The girl was reported missing by her family, and when the police checked her PlayStation, they found recent contact between her and Rudland on Facebook.

Detective Sergeant Matt Stevens said that as a result of intensive enquiries working with colleagues in the Met Police, they were both located in London at his mother's address in Eltham where he was living.

At 11am the following morning he was arrested in south east London.

"The girl was safe and has been receiving support from our specialist officers and independent agencies since.

"We also received valuable assistance from both Humberside Police and British Transport Police.

"Kerien Rudland is without doubt a serious danger to children. He began his offending online, quickly progressing to contact sexual offending with a child."

He had pleaded guilty at Brighton Crown Court on 27 November 2019 to to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, meeting a child following sexual grooming and two counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child.

He pleaded not guilty to two offences, of abduction and sexual assault, and these were directed to lay on the court file without being proceeded with.

He was also convicted on 5 December after a separate trial at the same court of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communications with a girl under 16, and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

These offences related to his engagement online from his family address in Hull, with someone online who was pretending to be a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested on suspicion of that offence by Humberside Police in August 2018.

The language used by Rudland when communicating with the Brighton girl on Facebook were very similar to those sent to the 'decoy' account.

Rudland will be a registered sex offender for life and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children and computers until further court notice.

The sexual exploitation prosecution, authorised by the CPS, followed an investigation by officers from the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit into a report received on Sunday evening (10 February).

Sussex Police added that their Safeguarding Investigation Units work tirelessly to safeguard children, prosecute offenders and enable them to be removed from society.