May 2012 Man jailed after having sex with teen he met on Facebook A CARER has been locked up after he had sex with a 14-year-old girl he met through Facebook. Richard Marlowe, 20, chatted with the girl online as they played Deal or No Deal, an online version of the television game show. She eventually ended up sending him pictures of herself naked and travelling to Nottingham to have sex twice. Their relationship was uncovered when she disappeared from home for the weekend, Nottingham Crown Court heard. Her family reported her missing and investigations, including checking her Facebook account, led police to Marlowe’s door. He was charged with sexual activity with a child and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He admitted the offences at court. Recorder Nirmal Shant, QC, sentenced him to six months in custody. She told him: “The law is designed to protect young girls, even from themselves at times.” When Marlowe is released, he will have to sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years and be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, to restrict him around children. Prosecutor Dawn Pritchard told the court how Marlowe and the girl had started talking on Facebook through the game, Deal or No Deal. “She initially told him she was 17. When you look at pictures on Facebook, she certainly looks a slightly older girl,” she said. The relationship developed on the internet, by instant messenger, mobile phone and web chat. The girl then told him she was 15, when was still actually 14. “When she told him she was 15, he assured her the age difference did not matter,” said Miss Pritchard. “Their chat became sexualised and a relationship developed. He asked her to send naked photos of herself and she came to Nottingham for the first time.” She travelled here from the South-East and had sex with Marlowe, from Minver Crescent, Aspley, on a number of occasions. After she returned home, their relationship continued by web camera and mobile phone. But when she travelled to Nottingham to see him on a second occasion, her family alerted police. The girl had left a note with a neighbour to say she was going away for the weekend, before getting a train to Nottingham to stay with Marlowe. Her family reported her missing, looked at her Facebook account and spoke to her friends. Police arrived at Marlowe’s home and found her there. Marlowe, who is his mum’s registered carer, had been engaged when he started communicating with the girl, the court heard. He ended that relationship after he became infatuated with her, the court heard. Victim statements from the child’s mother described the family as “blown apart” when they found she was 200 miles away in Nottingham. The court heard the girl believed she was in love with Marlowe, but now she feels shame. “She feels dirty and ashamed of herself, and felt controlled,” said Miss Pritchard. Martin Elwick told the court in mitigation: “Whatever her biological age, she was a capable young lady capable of making decisions for herself.” He said it began as a “virtuous relationship”. “His case has always been she was a fully consenting party.” Recorder Shant said she accepted it was not a case where the girl had been forced into anything.