A former parish council chairman has been jailed for seven years for sexually abusing two teenage boys after grooming them on a social network site.

Christopher Worrall was going through "turmoil" about coming out as gay to his family when he committed the offences, a court heard.

He booked into a hotel in Tunbridge Wells to abuse one of the boys after travelling from his home in North Yorkshire.

The 46-year-old pervert, of Holme on Spalding Moor, admitted two offences of sexual activity with a child and two of meeting a child following sexual grooming between June and October 2012.

He denied four further offences of sexual activity with a child involving the two victims, aged 14 and 15, and they were not proceeded with.

The former chairman of Holme on Spalding Moor parish council - who was also "active in scouts" and a "household name" in his community - contacted the boys on various sites, including Facebook.

Prosecutor Bridget Todd told Maidstone Crown Court Worrall was aware of their ages.

Despite one teenager telling him he was not interested, he "kept persisting".

"It is plain there has been a devastating psychological impact in relation to both your victims. Both have had a very severe traumatic effect..." - Judge Martin Joy

There were sexual messages to him asking for photographs. The boy eventually went to Worrall's home and was made to perform a sex act.

The teenager later broke down and confided in a friend but refused to go to the police.

He contacted the second victim online and by text before meeting him at the hotel in Tunbridge Wells.

Miss Todd said he locked the door and closed the curtains before getting the boy to perform a sex act on him. He also asked him to take photographs of his genitals.

The first boy told in a statement how he had lost confidence and suffered from poor self-esteem, flashbacks, anxiety and paranoia.

The mother of the second victim stated her once "happy, contented and full-of-life" son had changed drastically.

Worrall was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for sexual activity with one of the boys and three-and-a-half years consecutive for sexual activity with the other boy.

He was sentenced to 27 months concurrent for each of the two grooming offences.

A sexual offences prevention order was made and Worrall's name will appear on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Judge Martin Joy said it was not an easy sentencing exercise as they were distinct offences. It was deliberate calculated grooming.

The judge said it must have been a "frightening episode" when Worrall abused the boy in the locked hotel room.

"There is a very serious course of conduct for the court to take into account," he said. "You are of previous good character and an outstanding member of the local community.

"It is plain there has been a devastating psychological impact in relation to both your victims. Both have had a very severe traumatic effect."

Judge Joy added he had concluded, with some hesitation, that Worrall did not present the strictly defined danger in future.

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