A devious pervert went to great technical lengths to cover up having underage sex with a teenage girl, a court heard.

Philip Bray set up both their mobile phones so that he could remotely delete incriminating material such as nude photos if discovered.

But the 37-year-old horse riding instructor’s sordid secret was revealed after the girl’s mother became suspicious and saw some of the photos on her phone.

Now, Bray, of White Hill Road, Detling, has been jailed for just under five years after admitting six offences of sexual activity with a child, one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of taking indecent photos of a child.

A judge told him: “You tried to expunge all incriminating material on her phone remotely. You put in place a facility to enable you to do that and shows how you sought to control her daily life.

“On any view, your behaviour was concerted, calculated and sustained over a period of some months, and was quite wrong. You subsequently sought to wipe the evidence from her phone.”

The girl’s mother told in a victim statement how she and the whole family had been affected by Bray’s behaviour.

Maidstone Crown Court was told how Bray, then 36, had full sex with the 15-year-old girl and committed other indecent acts with her. He obtained the contraceptive pill for her from the internet.

He also persuaded her to send him indecent photos and he sent her some of his private parts, as well as taking photos of her naked.

Prosecutor Peter Forbes said the teenager’s mother last year began to notice changes in her behaviour. She denied having a boyfriend.

When her mother questioned her, she started deleting material on her phone.

“Her mother saw a naked picture of her daughter, which she had taken and sent,” said Mr Forbes. “She confronted her and she broke down.”

The teenager told her: “He said I would get it wrong. He told me I would be the one to mess it up.”

“Her iPhone was being remotely wiped,” said Mr Forbes. “Her mother found a private message disguised as a news feed. The defendant had remote access to her device.

“He was in the process of deleting messages via his phone. It was evident he knew he had been discovered.”

When interviewed, the victim revealed she had sex with Bray at a hotel, at his then home in Gillingham and in his car.

Rod Hayler, defending, said Bray understood he had taken advantage of a teenage girl and deluded himself that the relationship was in some way acceptable.

“It is right they had access to each other’s phones on iCloud accounts,” he said. “They could use the location app to track each other. It also allowed them to keep their communication private.

“He took the view he would be safe in disclosing the relationship once she turned 16. He now realises that relationship would have been deeply inappropriate.

“Once it was discovered by the mother, he sought to erase messages. It was done to limit the damage. He has come to realise how hopeless and misguided it was.”

Mr Hayler said Bray had sought counselling from a specialist in such sexual offending. He was now in a relationship with a woman, aged 36.

“It is his first conviction,” he added: “He hopes it is very much his last. The last 15 months have been an incredible ordeal for him and his family, and has turned his life upside down.

“He lost his job at the point of charge and will have to start again upon release.

"What he did was wrong and abhorrent. It has left emotional scars. But he is not a dangerous man.”

Jailing Bray, for four years and eight months, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said Bray took the girl’s virginity and the relationship seemed to become “all-consuming”.

“You were able to control her behaviour,” he said. “You took advantage of your young victim.

“You stole an important aspect of her childhood - namely her innocence by subjecting her to what can only be described in reality as a sustained and particular form of sexual abuse.

“The likely long-term effects on her can only be imagined. Her emotional development has to some extent been traumatised. Her educational process has been set back.

“It seems there is a lack of insight into the true nature of your offending. To your credit, you have sought counselling.”

Bray’s name will appear indefinitely on the sex offenders’ register and he will be barred from working with children under 16 and vulnerable adults.