A NEWPORT man who used his position working in a library to access a child's contact details and incite her to engage in sexual activity has been jailed.

The predator pretended to be a 16-year-old boy on Snapchat to start online conversations with the girl.

Glyn Viney, of Barton Road, appeared before the Isle of Wight Crown Court yesterday (Thursday).

At a previous hearing on March 1, he admitted three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted engaging in sexual communication with a child and making indecent images of a child.

The offences took place between December 1, 2018, and August 24, 2019.

Prosecutor, Daniel Sawyer, told the court Viney's primary victim was a 15-year-old girl he first noticed at the library where he worked.

Viney found her contact details through library records and contacted her via email, posing as a 16-year-old boy called Gary Barlow.

Mr Sawyer said conversations between the pair quickly turned sexual, and Viney asked her for sexual images, and for her to carry out sexual acts on herself.

The victim reported matters to her foster carer, who contacted police.

Viney was arrested on August 30, 2019, and his phone was taken ­— a device which contained a Snapchat account and screen recorder app, Mobizen.

Mr Sawyer said messages consisted of demands for videos, and it was clear there was a difference of power between Viney and his victim.

The court heard how there was also reference to sexual gratification in the context of the victim being in pain.

Mr Sawyer said the victim had disclosed her vulnerabilities to Viney.

He said, for the counts of attempting to incite a child, they pertained to similar conversations with other individuals on his phone.

Mr Sawyer said the other victims could not be traced, and the Crown could not prove they were the young girls they purported to be.

He said that from their profiles, one appeared to be in Year 7 and another, 13 years old.

In police interview, Viney accepted he had at least two Snapchat accounts and pretended to be 16 years old.

He said he was having a mental breakdown at the time, which presiding judge, recorder Anna Midgley, said was indicative of his shame.

David Richards, defending, said Viney was someone who had a productive and decent life which he had thrown away.

Mr Richards said Viney had no intention of doing anything like it ever again, and did not understand where it came from or why.

He said he was overwhelmed by issues in his life ­— the pressures of work, the fact that his mother was unwell, and his inability to get satisfaction from relationships with people his own age.

Mr Richards said Viney did not maintain the pretence throughout, and eventually owned up to being a married man.

He said he knew he was going to prison, and did not see himself as a victim.

Viney, who has no previous convictions, was jailed for three years and four months.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely, and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.

He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £181.