A man who travelled from London to sexually abuse a child in Wiltshire has been handed jail time.

Mark Pegram of Enfield has been sentenced to four years in prison for arranging to meet with an adult to arrange the sexual abuse of a child.

The 65-year-old engaged in explicit conversations online before agreeing and subsequently travelling to meet who he believed would be a child to commit sexual abuse.

He travelled to Chippenham on November 13, 2021, where he was met by officers and arrested, denying he had any intention of carrying out any sexual acts on the child.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: Mark Pegram travelled to sexually abuse a child in Wiltshire.Mark Pegram travelled to sexually abuse a child in Wiltshire. (Image: Wiltshire Police)

Pegram later changed his plea to guilty when the case went to trial and was sentenced on Wednesday at Swindon Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to the commission of a child sex offence and possessing indecent images of a child after an investigation by Wiltshire Police and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit.

The defendant was sentenced to 48 months in prison and required to register with the police in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act 2003 indefinitely.

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order while being ordered to pay a £156 surcharge.

Detective Constable Kerry Foster said: "This was an extremely distressing case for the jury sitting on this trial.

“They had to view a large number of messages that contained graphic details about the sexual acts that he planned to carry out on the child when they met.

"The jury also had to listen to recordings that depicted the graphic detail of the sexual acts that he wanted to do with the child.

"Our Child Internet Exploitation Team works with other agencies such as children's social care and health, to minimise the risk to children who may be vulnerable to harm.

“We would urge anyone who suspects a person of carrying out child sexual exploitation to get in touch with us straight away."

Detective Inspector David Wells, from the Online Investigations Team at SWROCU said: “This is vital work, identifying offenders who use the internet to groom children and, as in this case, attempt to arrange access to a child to abuse.

“It is our priority to protect and keep children safe in our communities and I encourage anyone worried about exploitation of a child online to report it to the police.”