A paedophile sexually assaulted and exposed himself to a schoolgirl in an arcade then gave her his phone number.
William Lea told the teenager to perform a sex act upon him and was caught because he left his contact details with her. But after being released under investigation over the incident, he went on to attempt to groom an 11-year-old.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Friday, that the 65-year-old had been using a gaming machine in an amusements next to the Scarisbrick Hotel in Southport when two 14-year-old girls entered. Paul Becker, prosecuting, described how Lea began talking the youngster and made them "feel increasingly uncomfortable".
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The pervert then groped one of their breasts. She told him to stop, but he instead asked her "whether she liked it".
Lea unzipped his trousers, pulled out his penis and "invited her" to perform a sex act on him. The victim was left "disgusted", but he "bizarrely" left his phone number with them before leaving - leading to him being easily identified by police.
Then, while under investigation by police over the assault, he was ensnared in a paeophile hunter sting. Lea, of no fixed address, began communicating online with a decoy whom he believed to be an 11-year-old girl.
He groomed her and arranged to meet up with her at Southport Station. Once there, he was confronted by members of the group.
Lea had been subject to a suspended sentence order for drink driving and possession of a bladed article in a public place at the time of the first set of offences. Fiona McNeill, defending, described how her client - who appeared via video link to HMP Altcourse - recently suffered from a stroke and now requires the use of a wheelchair.
He admitted sexual assault, exposure, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and breaching a suspended sentence order. Lea was jailed for four years and 10 months, told to pay a victim surcharge, handed a lifelong notification requirement and given a 15-year sexual harm prevention order.
Sentencing, Judge David Potter said: "I accept you do feel a genuine sense of remorse for your involvement in these child sex offences. You, at the age of 65, have very few convictions and this will be your first custodial sentence."
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