A man in his 40s asked someone he thought was 13 if he could teach her "how to make love".

44-year-old Andrew Tarrant asked if he could "spend the night with her naked" and asked "if she had ever been kissed before", prosecutor Keith Ballinger told Swindon Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The Penhill man sent a Facebook friend request to the account, which he believed belonged to a 13-year-old girl, but was actually that of an undercover decoy who was working alongside police.

Between February 23 and February 27, 2022, Tarrant, of Oaksey Road, sent several sexual messages to the account, calling the child's profile picture “sexy” and “beautiful”.

“He said she could come to visit him and to tell her mum she was going to stay with a friend,” said Mr Ballinger.

The 44-year-old sent photos of his genitals and asked her to send some back, despite several frequent mentions of the account owner being 13.

Defending, Luke Jameson said: “He was unemployed, had too much time on his hands and said he was bored and didn’t realise what he was doing.

“He is a man with significant learning difficulties."

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates Court, Tarrant pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child and was given a suspended sentence of two years in which he will have to take part in 60 days of rehabilitation activity.

He was also ordered to pay a £154 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs.

“As you know sexual communication with a child is a really serious offence, as is sending sexual images to a child,” said the chair of the bench, Sarah Neish.