A pervert who worked in sport promotion in west Kent schools has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after grooming teenage girls on the internet and meeting two of them for sex.

Paul Willmott made a full confession that enabled police to contact other victims they would not otherwise have known about.

Judge Philip Statman told the 37-year-old: "This case once more shows the dangers associated with teenagers in chatrooms, where individuals such as you are able to groom young people under the age of 16.

"You can enter a chatroom either with a picture which is false or, indeed, some form of cartoon picture and you can lie as to your age.

"You can win the confidence of the young person and over the passage of time invite them to perform sexual acts by use of a webcam.

"Finally, you can arrange to meet them and commit what is known as contact offences. We see here a course of conduct in which as the grooming process becomes greater, so the chances of you indulging in greater and more serious sexual acts takes place."

Willmott admitted two offences of meeting a child following sexual grooming, two of sexual activity with a child, causing a child to be involved in pornography, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, three of taking indecent photos of a child and two of making indecent images of a child.

He entered the pleas on December 19 and asked to be remanded in custody.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Willmott, of The Gables, Ticehurst, East Sussex, had a supervisory role in sport development at schools, but none of his victims were pupils.

Dale Sullivan, prosecuting, said Willmott was arrested at his then home in Crescent Road, Tunbridge Wells, in February last year after a parent in Colchester, Essex, discovered his 15-year-old daughter had crept out of the house at night.

Evidence of sexual chat with Willmott was found on the girl's mobile phone and she admitted she had been in contact with him for some time.

He had asked for pictures of her naked to be sent to him and he told her he would film her after stripping off her uniform.

Willmott revealed he had met another 15-year-old girl in Leicester twice. He first made contact with her two years ago, claiming he was 17, and had sexual chat.

On one occasion when they met, the girl performed a sex act on Willmott in his car - an offence the judge said was the gravest of those he committed.

Seizure of Willmott's computer revealed images of other young girls exposing themselves or performing sex acts. One was only 14.

Mr Sullivan said Willmott had deleted more than 300 images of child sex abuse from his computer.

Judge Statman imposed a sexual offences prevention order for 10 years, disqualified Willmott from working with children and said his name would appear on the sex offenders' register for life.