A paedophile took condoms and lubrication jelly when he travelled to meet a 13-year-old girl he planned to have sex with, a court has heard.
Mark Richards had chatted to what he believed was a schoolgirl online and arranged to meet for sex. But the "girl" was a police officer working as part of an undercover operation targeting would-be child sex offenders.
The 45-year-old agreed to meet his victim at a train station and turned up for the rendezvous along with his own daughter.
Swansea Crown Court heard Richards was targeted as part of Operation Harrier, a police investigation into online child sexual exploitation.
Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said the operation involved undercover officers posing as children to engage in conversation with those suspected to be likely offenders.
In July this year Richards began communication with a girl on the chatroom Chatiw. The barrister said the conversation soon turned sexual in nature with Richards calling the girl a "naughty little b****" and a "hot little schoolgirl".
The court heard the pair continued to chat on the messaging platforms WhatsApp and Kik, with the conversation becoming increasingly explicit despite the "girl" repeatedly telling the defendant how old she was.
Richards then gave the decoy his daughter's phone number and the pair arranged to meet the following day at Carmarthen train station.
When Richards got off the train at just after 10am on July 10 he was arrested by waiting police. He was accompanied on the trip by his adult daughter.
The court heard that in his subsequent interview Richards answered no comment to all questions but his 20-year-old daughter told police she was aware of her father's "abnormal sexual behaviour".
Richards, of Stafford Street, Llanelli , admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.
The court heard has 11 previous convictions for 53 offences but none for sexual matters.
John Hipkin, for Richards, said the main mitigation he could put forward for his client were his guilty pleas. He said "nothing could ever excuse" the kind of behaviour Richards had engaged in and accepted there were "some extremely bizarre aspects" to the case.
He added that the defendant had led an "isolated existence" for many years.
Judge Huw Rees told Richards he had intended to "lure" his victim to a meeting with the intention of having sex with her and had taken condoms and lubrication jelly with him to that end.
He said it was clear that the defendant had not been deterred when the "girl" made it clear she was just 13 and in fact her age had only "encouraged" him.
The judge said a probation report into Richards had concluded he posed a high risk of serious harm to children aged between 12 and 16.
Giving the defendant a 25% discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison. Richards will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to limit his access to the internet and to children and will be a registered sex offender for the same period.
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