A PERVERT has been jailed for three years after paying a woman almost �1,000 in a bid to let him sexually assault her six-year-old daughter.

Kelvin Sadler, of Oaklee, Ipswich, had denied arranging the commission of a child sex offence between October 27 and November 5 last year, but was found guilty by a jury at Ipswich Crown Court.

Sadler had earlier pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs of a child and possessing 400 extreme pornographic images of adults having sex with animals – which prosecutors deemed to be of a highly serious nature. Prosecutor Hugh Vass said Sadler was also in possession of an image of a child “engaging in sexualities with an animal”.

Sadler was sentenced to three years in prison for the child sex offence charge, of which he will serve a minimum of half in prison. He was also sentenced to a further 12 months in prison for the two charges to which he had pleaded guilty.

Judge John Devaux ordered the sentences to run concurrently meaning Sadler will serve a maximum of three years. Sadler was also put on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Sentencing the 50-year-old, Judge Devaux said he posed a real threat to the public. He added: “You have a sexual interest in children going back to when you were a teenager.”

During Sadler’s trial at Ipswich Crown Court, a jury heard that text messages from him were found by police on a telephone belonging to a woman from West Yorkshire in November last year which showed he was arranging for her to bring her daughter to him so that he could sexually abuse her.

In the messages, Sadler allegedly told the woman what he would like to do to the child and said he would give her almost �1,000 to help pay off her debts. He paid the money in four separate instalments of �50, �30, �700 and �162.

The court heard that Sadler had approached a number of woman on an internet site with an aim to make contact with children.

The girl’s mother notified police and Suffolk officers then executed a warrant at Sadler’s home on November 14, 2011. There they seized a computer, phone, camera and a number of other items and the Online Investigation Team found the indecent and pornographic images.

Giving evidence during the trial, Sadler – who still denies the accusation despite the verdict of the jury – claimed he was playing out a fantasy in the text messages and wouldn’t sexually abuse a child.

Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Bernie Morgan said: “This is a disturbing case where a conversation by text message has descended into the obscene and extreme. Justice has now been done and children are protected from this individual whilst he completes a custodial sentence.”