Man sent photo of his dog as he tried to groom girl

Scott Burke believed he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl, who was in fact a police officer

A man who sent pictures of his dog to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl in a bid to groom her has been jailed.

Scott Burke, 37, of Leverington in Cambridgeshire, contacted the "teenager" on social media in November 2021. She was in fact a police officer.

Cambridgeshire Police said he quickly sexualised the conversations and sent a photograph of his penis, along with one of him with his dog.

Burke pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to arrange, facilitate or commission sexual activity with a child and was jailed for two years and six months.

Burke, of Leverington Common in the village near Wisbech, repeatedly discussed sex and a desire to meet up with the girl during a fortnight of online conversations, Cambridgeshire Police said.

He claimed he had booked them a hotel room and suggested taking the girl to a sex toy and lingerie retailer.

On arrest, he told officers he had been hacked.

Burke also pleaded guilty to one count of being an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13-15 into sexual activity.