More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A paedophile who groomed two boys with hundreds of phone messages before travelling more than 300 miles to Kent meet them has been jailed for six years.
Gareth Oliver will not be eligible for parole until he has served two thirds of the extended sentence and a judge said it was difficult to see how he could function “otherwise than in an institution”.
The 21-year-old pervert was on licence and under supervision having served another extended sentence for sexually abusing boys when he made contact with his latest victims.
He paid £52 for a coach trip from his home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Medway, taking with him his BMX bike and trunks for swimming.
But his plan to sleep rough with the youngsters was thwarted after parents intervened.
Oliver, who suffers from ADHD, autism and Asperger's syndrome, denied two offences of meeting a child for sex following grooming but was convicted in July.
Maidstone Crown Court heard he was aged 14 when sentenced to three years detention with an extended three-year licence in October 2007 for abusing two boys, aged seven and nine. He was released in February 2010.
He was banned from having unsupervised contact with children under 16.
But using the name Wolfie, Oliver befriended and groomed the boys via Blackberry Messaging, sometimes sending 100 messages a day.
It progressed to arranging a meeting and in July last year he arrived by coach at Hempstead Valley.
Then aged 20, he cycled with boys in Gillingham and blew up condoms. Two boys, aged 12 and 13, went home and Oliver slept rough in Broadway Park.
The next day they went swimming. But a mother became suspicious and went to the pool.
She took her son home and later saw Oliver hiding behind a wall. She found blown up condoms and empty packets in the garden.
“This was very determined grooming. It is very difficult to see what sort of life you are going to have except in an institution” - Judge Martin Joy
Two fathers eventually grabbed him and, when arrested, officers found condoms in his pocket.
Oliver denied the charges and claimed he had only visited Kent “to have some fun”.
Judge Martin Joy told him: “This was very determined grooming. It is very difficult to see what sort of life you are going to have except in an institution.”
He will be on licence for a further three years at the end of the six-year sentence.
His name will continue to appear on the sex offenders’ register and a sexual offences prevention order was made.
