September 2002 Man tried to have sex with 12-year-old girl A MAN who tried to have sex with a 12-year-old girl he met over the internet has escaped being sent to jail. Jamie Heron, 20, believed the youngster was 15 or 16 after exchanging emails with her, Cambridge Crown Court was told. She called Heron, whom she had not met in person, last November after being dropped off at a dance class by her mother, with whom she had had a row, said Sara Walker, prosecuting. Heron, who was aged 19 at the time, arrived with his mother to pick her up and took her back to his family home at Teversham Drift, Cherry Hinton. He and the girl watched television in his room then later removed most of their clothing and tried, unsuccessfully, to have sex. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, afterwards went to a friend’s house and later told her mother what had happened. Heron, who has never been in any kind of trouble before, told police he believed she was 15 or 16 years old, had been doing her GCSEs and was learning to drive. He admitted indecently assaulting the youngster. A charge of having unlawful sex with her, which he denied, was left to lie on he file. Mark Shelley, for Heron, told the court: “This is not a case of him forcing himself on her. “I am not seeking to say he is blameless. He knows he has done wrong and has to be punished for it but he thought she was older than she was.” Mr Shelley acknowledged that Heron took advantage of the youngster’s lack of knowledge, but said he was not a man who preyed on young girls. He had learned his lesson and had caused his family distress and anguish, said Mr Shelley. Sentencing Heron to a four month tagging order, with a daily curfew of 8pm to 6am, Judge Jonathan Haworth said he took particular account of a pre-sentence report by an experienced probation officer which stated that Heron did not have a predatory approach, had not groomed the girl for sex, did not use force, was remorseful and unlikely to be a repeat offender. “In all the circumstances it seems to me I can draw back from a custodial sentence,” he said. In addition to the electronic curfew, he also ordered Heron to do 120 hours of community service, pay £100 court costs and sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register, where his name will be kept for five years.