'Sex predator' groomed boy in chatrooms

12:58pm Tuesday 27th November 2007

A "SEXUAL predator" who groomed a boy under 16 via internet chatrooms before engaging in sexual activity with him, was jailed today.

Anthony Groves, 53, of South Road, Cwmbran, made contact with the teenager, who was living in care at the time, after the boy posted his profile on a website.

They shared sexually explicit chat over the internet before meeting and engaging in sexual activity in August this year.

Police only uncovered the offences after interviewing Groves, following a "bizarre and frightening" scene at a petrol station last year, where Groves had collapsed and officers found his drunken teen victim wildly splashing petrol around.

Groves, who was already on suspended sentence for inciting a boy to engage in sexual acts, was descibed as posing a high risk to the public and was given an indeterminate prison sentence.

The earliest he can apply for parole is in two years and six weeks, minus 92 days already spent in custody.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and was barred from working or having contact with children, from owning a computer and from using the internet.