A convicted pervert with a sexual interest in teenage girls has been jailed for 20 months after he tried to lure a schoolgirl down an alleyway.

Samuel Culver had previously been jailed for a year in 2012 for a similar offence in which he attempted to entice a 15-year-old girl to go into his home in Brook Road, Tunbridge Wells.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the 26-year-old followed the schoolgirl, also aged 15, as she walked home in September last year.

She later described the landscape gardener to police as acting "like a leech" as he stood close to her and whispered: "Come up the alleyway with me."

"It is clear that you have an interest in girls similar to the age of the complainant and that is demonstrated by material and searches on your computer" - Judge Philip St.John-Stevens

Prosecutor Mark Mullins said his computer, having been seized by police a month earlier, revealed Culver had been using search terms such as 'pre-teen sex' and '11-year-old sex'.

Culver was due to stand trial in April accused of child abduction with intent to commit a sexual offence, but his plea of guilty to the less serious offence of attempted child abduction was accepted by the prosecution.

He also admitted indecently exposing himself to a 31-year-old woman outside his home in August last year.

The court heard Culver suffers from autism and could be "overly direct" in his communication as well as having a tendency to invade other people's personal space.

But Judge Philip St.John-Stevens said while those traits offered an explanation for his behaviour they were not an excuse.

He added that the two offences to which Culver had pleaded guilty had to be placed in context with his previous convictions.

"It is clear that you have an interest in girls similar to the age of the complainant and that is demonstrated by material and searches on your computer, searches for teen or schoolgirl pornography sites."

Despite being jailed for 20 months, Culver is likely to be released within weeks as he has served almost nine months on remand.

Mr Mullins told the court it was about 3.20pm on September 22 when the girl realised Culver was walking about five metres behind her.

"This was an invitation to go into the alleyway with him and there was no suggestion of any sexual intent. There was no grabbing of any kind" -Timothy Bass, defending

As she crossed the road towards a wooded footpath, Culver overtook the teenager and then stood directly in front of her.

"She backed away but Culver came in close and said 'Come up the alleyway with me.' This frightened her and she said he was like a leech, always invading her personal space," said Mr Mullins.

The girl ran off and phoned her mum. Culver, who still lives in Brook Road, was arrested the following day.

The court heard the offence of indecent exposure a month earlier involved Culver standing at a garden gate, wearing a T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms pulled down to his knees and performing a sex act.

His previous convictions include one in 2007 for indecent exposure, as well as the 2012 offences of attempted child abduction and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

On that occasion a schoolgirl was walking past Culver's home when, with his trousers pulled down to expose his boxer shorts, he shouted out at her from a window and invited her inside. He had a knife in his hand at the time.

Timothy Bass, defending, described Culver as a vulnerable individual with an "unhealthy and unattractive" interest in young girls.

He said he needed assistance in how to communicate and act appropriately.

Of the attempted child abduction offence, Mr Bass added it was far less serious than his conviction in 2012.

"This was an invitation to go into the alleyway with him and there was no suggestion of any sexual intent. There was no grabbing of any kind."

Upon release, Culver will have to sign on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.