This is Hull and East Riding -- Hull College maths lecturer Adam Ford has been jailed for two years after he was caught sending explicit online messages to an undercover police officer posing as an 11-year-old girl. *Jenna Thompson* reports. A PAEDOPHILE teacher was caught by an undercover detective posing as an 11-year-old girl on an internet chat room. Adam Ford, a maths lecturer at Hull College, sent explicit messages to the girl in a series of online conversations and performed a sex act while he was on webcam. When police raided his house, they found hundreds of indecent images and films of children on his computer. Ford, 39, wept and mouthed, "I'm sorry", as he was jailed for two years at Hull Crown Court. Prosecutor Jharna Jobes said: "An undercover operation was set up involving an officer pretending to be an 11-year-old girl. They went on the internet and entered a teen chat site, where they received a private message from this defendant. He was asking where she lived and how old she was. She told him she was 11." The court heard that although Ford had sought treatment for being a paedophile in 2003, he had never received any complaints about his conduct as a lecturer at the college or as a private tutor. At first, Ford claimed to be 28 and told the girl his profile picture of a "muscular black male" was him. He later confessed it wasn't and switched on his webcam. She could see him performing a sex act, but could not see his face. Mrs Jobes said: "He was naked and reclined on a leather chair. He said he didn't like to show himself properly because he liked young girls." Ford then asked the girl to switch on her webcam and send him pictures of herself during the conversation. Over the next week, he spoke to the girl four more times in the chat room and on the webcam in conversations lasting up to three- and-a-half hours. On each occasion, he was performing a sex act, while on the webcam. Mrs Jobes said: "In one conversation, he said he would like to be her boyfriend, but said they would have to keep it secret. In another, he said he was sorry because she was so young." Ford admitted five charges of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child and six charges of possessing indecent images and films. The conversations took place between April 24 and May 2 last year. He was arrested at his home in Spring Bank, Hull, on May 22. Police seized two laptop computers, where they found 737 indecent images of children and 33 films. Mrs Jobes said: "When he was interviewed, he admitted he used the chat rooms frequently to speak to children between 13 and 15." Since his arrest, he had sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity that works with sex abusers. Ford's barrister John Thackray said: "He has lost everything because of his offending. He has lost his marriage, his career, his accommodation. He has set about rehabilitating himself. He made a half-hearted attempt to do so some years ago, but, unfortunately, he didn't follow it through." Judge Mark Bury said that although Ford was speaking to a police officer and not a child, he had no choice but to jail him. He said: "For a lot of years, you have had a problem. You didn't know the person you were speaking to was a police officer, you believed it was an 11-year-old girl. These are serious offences. It would not send out the right message if you were not immediately deprived of your liberty." A spokesman for Hull College said it took action as soon as the allegations were reported. She said: "The college takes the care of its students very seriously. The college followed the agreed protocol with the Hull Safeguarding Children's Board to ensure the safety and welfare of Hull College students." Ford was banned from working with children for life, must sign the sex offenders register and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual offences prevention order.--------------------
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