A MAN has been jailed for engaging in sexualised conversations with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

Among other things, Suhail Mogra suggested that the ‘girl’ – who was in fact a police officer – should meet up with him in a hotel room and perform sexual acts on him.

He was sentenced to 34 months in prison at Preston Crown Court.

Mogra, 25, of Whitewell Place, Blackburn, began a conversation with the girl on messenger app, Kik, in March 2020, before asking if she would like to meet him in a hotel room and perform sex acts on him. The conversation then moved onto Whatsapp.

Police carried out a warrant at his address in April 2020, seizing his mobile phone and other devices.

At court he pleaded guilty to arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. As well as the prison term he was also given a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and has been entered on to the Sex Offenders’ Register.

The conversation took place as part of a police operation to target paedophiles using internet chat rooms and messenger apps for the sexual exploitation of children.

DS Peter Denson, of Lancashire Police, said: “Mogra believed he was talking to a 13-year-old girl online when he suggested they meet in a hotel and that the child perform sexual acts on him.

“On this occasion the person he was speaking to was a police officer and Mogra was arrested and subsequently brought before the courts. I am satisfied with the sentence he has now been given, and hope Mogra uses his time behind bars to reflect on the consequences of his actions.

“I also hope this case sends a message that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in Lancashire. We take child abuse and exploitation extremely seriously and anybody caught engaging in this type of criminality will be dealt with robustly and proportionately.”

More information about how Lancashire Police is tackling child sexual exploitation is here: Lancashire Constabulary - Child Sexual Exploitation - Lancashire Police

If you have information or suspicions about child sexual exploitation please report it to police on 101, or 999 in an emergency.