Jan 2007 ‘Life’ for chatroom sex fiend A MAN who preyed on young girls he met on the web has had his “unduly lenient” two-year sentence upped to a potentially life-long term behind bars by top judges. Adam Bennett, 23, of Frays Lees, Uxbridge, had sex with a 12-year-old, from the York area, and a 14-year old from the Tewkesbury area, both of whom he met through internet chatrooms then arranged to meet for dates. When he was arrested he was found to have child porn involving children as young as three stored on his computer. Bennett was jailed for two years at York Crown Court on September 4 last year after pleading guilty to two counts of rape of a girl under 16, grooming, sexual activity with a child and two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child. He was also disqualified from working with children. But the sentence was put up for review at London’s Criminal Appeal Court by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, who attacked them as too lenient. And Lord Justice Gage, Mr Justice Burton and Judge Michael Broderick have now ruled that two years was indeed “unduly lenient” and have increased it to a sentence of Indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). Similar to a life term, the sentence means Bennett can have no hope of release until he can persuade the Parole Board he poses no serious public threat. The court heard how Bennett met the 12-year-old through a chatroom on which she had posted a picture of herself and claimed to be 17. He visited her at her home when her mother was out and had sex with her twice. Bennett knew the other girl was 14, but still met her several times before persuading her to spend the night with him. They had sex in a hotel off a motorway near Tewksbury. The child porn had been downloaded when he was 17 and stored on his computer for five years. Increasing his sentence and ruling that he posed a danger to the public, Lord Justice Gage said: “These were serious offences involving young girls. The offender had a sexual interest in children which was ongoing. These offences determine that further offences may cause serious psychological harm to members of the public. “The judge fell into error by considering that this offender was not dangerous and he ought to have imposed a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection. This sentence was unduly lenient.” The judge added that a straight sentence of six or seven years would have been proper, had he not imposed an IPP. He ruled that Bennett must serve two-and-a-half years behind bars – the equivalent of a five-year term – before he can even apply for parole.