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02/12/2008
Former Deputy Mayor Jailed For Grooming Teen
A former deputy mayor has been sentenced to eight months in prison for attempting to 'groom' a 13-year-old girl for sex.
Morris Lightfoot, 55, of Dryden Close, Bilton, Harrogate, was arrested in November last year, and appeared before York Crown Court on Tuesday for sentencing.
The 55-year-old was caught by a sting operation by an administrator on a social networking site.
The ex-Harrogate Deputy Mayor admitted three charges of asking the teenage girl for sex. He was placed on the sex offenders register and banned from working with children.
Nick Worsley, prosecuting, told York Crown Court Lightfoot had logged on under the name Moozzaa, and asked the girl if she wanted to lose her virginity to him, even though she had made it clear she was aged only 13.
However, the 'girl' was actually a male administrator of the site posing as the teenager, as part of the sting operation.
The Lib Dem councillor, who represented Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council and Bilton and Nidd Gorge on North Yorkshire county Council, was also automatically disqualified from being a councillor as a result of his sentence.
He had previously resisted calls to resign from both county and borough councils.
(JM)
Morris Lightfoot, 55, of Dryden Close, Bilton, Harrogate, was arrested in November last year, and appeared before York Crown Court on Tuesday for sentencing.
The 55-year-old was caught by a sting operation by an administrator on a social networking site.
The ex-Harrogate Deputy Mayor admitted three charges of asking the teenage girl for sex. He was placed on the sex offenders register and banned from working with children.
Nick Worsley, prosecuting, told York Crown Court Lightfoot had logged on under the name Moozzaa, and asked the girl if she wanted to lose her virginity to him, even though she had made it clear she was aged only 13.
However, the 'girl' was actually a male administrator of the site posing as the teenager, as part of the sting operation.
The Lib Dem councillor, who represented Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council and Bilton and Nidd Gorge on North Yorkshire county Council, was also automatically disqualified from being a councillor as a result of his sentence.
He had previously resisted calls to resign from both county and borough councils.
(JM)
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