Facebook paedophile jailed for grooming Walsall girl, 14

Homeless Banti Singh, who went by the internet name of Velly Boy, travelled up from London to meet the youngster for sex in Walsall.

She was reported missing by her mother on September 4 last year, but returned home only to go missing a week later. She was found outside the Premier Inn in Walsall with a man who fled when approached by her family.

She was interviewed by police and told them she was in a sexual relationship with a man who she knew as Randeep, who contacted her online when she was 13

In October, the girl's relatives followed her to a train station, and contacted police to raise concerns that she may be meeting the man again.

Police went to the station and arrested Singh, who had travelled to the capital to meet the youngster, on Park Street, Bloxwich.

He denied the relationship, but tried and failed to hide a bag in the police car on his arrest. In it, were toiletries, a piece of paper containing passwords to the teenager's social media accounts and mobile phone, as well as a fake passport.

Detective Constable Alli Wilkins, from the force's Public Protection Unit, said: "Singh ultimately controlled this young girl over a period of eight months, from the point when he first made contact on Facebook through to his arrest.

"He took over the girl's phone, deleted contacts he deemed unsuitable, engaged her in a sexual relationship - despite knowing her to be underage - and invented a false identity, claiming he was two years younger and worked in a restaurant.

"In reality Singh had entered the country illegally, had no known home, visa or job, and claimed he slept in temples in London most of the time.

"Thankfully the girl's family raised the alarm, allowing a thorough investigation to be launched to identify and detain the man responsible for the girl's exploitation."

Singh, of no fixed address, admitted 12 counts of sexual activity with a child and three counts of child abduction.

He was jailed for six years for those offences at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Singh was also sentenced consecutively to a year for the times he took the child without authority.He will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life.