A PAEDOPHILE was caught trying to groom 13-year-old “schoolgirls” after he was snared in an undercover police sting by an officer acting as a decoy.

Marc Wallis, 29, from Ebbw Vale, was also found with child sex abuse images depicting victims aged between seven years of age and 12.

His home was raided by police just before last Christmas following a tip-off.

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Emma Harris, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court: “When cautioned the defendant said to the officers, ‘I have possibly been speaking to children online.’”

Wallis was arrested and police seized a mobile phone which contained 25 indecent images of children and chat logs of contact with the police decoy who had posed as a 13-year-old girl called Sofia.

The defendant was communicating with the officer via a Google Play app called Chatous.

He had pretended he was 17 years old and asked “her” to send him videos of her performing sex acts on herself and to add him on Snapchat.

There was also communication with another fake girl aged 13 called Vivvy and he asked for sexual pictures of her.

When he was interviewed by detectives Wallis said he had only discussed sexual matters with them to “provoke a reaction”.

The defendant, of King Street, Cwm, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted possession of category A, B and C indecent images of children.

Wallis had no previous convictions.

Kevin Seal, representing him, said: “The defendant is 29 but he’s an immature 29.

“His guilty pleas were entered at the earliest opportunity.”

The defendant had, his barrister told the court, become isolated after losing his job following an industrial accident.

The judge, Recorder Greg Bull QC, told Wallis: “There was planning and grooming behaviour and you used sexual language.”

The defendant was sentenced to a three-year community order.

He has to complete 30 sessions of the Horizon sex offender programme, complete a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and perform 200 hours of unpaid work.

Wallis must register as a sex offender for the next five years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order until 2027.