A man led a 16-year-old girl into prostitution after posing as a teenager in an internet chatroom, a court heard.

The girl twice agreed to have sex for money because her mother was seriously ill and she feared being in debt.

Daniel Gribbin drove almost 46 miles in his BMW car from Margate to Maidstone and paid the teenager £50 to have sex with him, it was alleged.

The condom split and 42-year-old Gribbin paid her an extra £20 to get the morning after pill, a jury at Maidstone Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Peter Forbes said although girls could legally have sex at 16 they were protected from prostitution under the age of 18.

Shaven-haired Gribbin, he said, pretended to be a 17-year-old girl in a United States-based chatroom called Tagged in 2012.

He was aware of the criminality and admitted using prostitutes. He was to tell police the girl was in her teens or 20 “at a push”.

The girl, who cannot be identified, was encouraged to join Tagged by a friend.

Out of the blue she received a message from a girl of a similar age, who asked if she wanted to earn some money having sex with men for money.

At first she thought it was a joke but then was interested in the money.

She agreed to take a phone call from a man calling himself Dean and agreed to meet him.

Mr Forbes said Gribbin drove from Margate to Maidstone in July 2012 in his sporty BMW with red leather seats.

The rear seats had been removed.

They went to a park and Gribbin gave her £50 before they had sex.

He gave her the extra £20 afterwards. He asked to meet her again and she agreed.

They did so four days later and again had intercourse in the park.

They met a third time the same month but nothing sexual happened.

When arrested in December that year, Gribbin admitted using prostitutes and meeting women for sex over the internet.

He agreed he met the girl in Maidstone and had sex with her, but denied paying her.

He denied posing as a girl on Tagged.

Mr Forbes said phones and sim cards were seized from Gribbin and one contained the number he gave to the girl in an online chat.

He admitted twice having sex with the girl but denied inciting her to become a prostitute.

Mr Forbes said a former girlfriend contacted the police after reading about the charges in a newspaper.

She confronted him about it and he initially denied it.

But he later confessed to her that the allegations were true and he had paid the girl for sex.

“The Crown say this exposes his lying account and provides additional confirmation of his guilt,” added Mr Forbes.

Gribbin, of Westmarsh Drive, Margate, denies causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography with a girl under the age of 18 and two charges of paying for the sexual services of a child in July 2012.

The trial continues.