A MAN who had sex with a 15-year-old schoolgirl got a nasty shock when her mother confronted him after tricking him into meeting her instead, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The teenager was one of three underage girls sexually abused by Mark Sheffield after chatting to him on Facebook and arranging to visit him in Bradford.

Her mother intercepted a message between Sheffield and her daughter, set up the meeting and confronted him, prosecutor Ian Howard said.

He told her he knew the girl was 15 but, after he was arrested by the police, he denied it and said no sex had taken place.

Yesterday, Sheffield, 20, was sentenced to 18 months in a young offender institution, suspended for two years, after pleading to guilty to the sexual touching of two 15-year-old girls.

He was cautioned by the police in June, 2013, for having sex with a girl aged between 13 and 15.

Five months later, he met up with a second girl, aged 15, in a Bradford park and took her back to his then flat in Darnay Lane, West Bowling, Bradford.

He undressed her and had sex with her in his bedroom.

The girl told her teacher and showed her Facebook messages in which she made it clear to Sheffield that she was 15.

After being challenged by the teenager's mother, Sheffield was arrested and bailed.

Three months later, he engaged in sexual activity with a third girl, also 15, after messaging her on a Blackberry.

He took her to his flat and she performed oral sex on him, the court was told.

She wrote down what appeared to be a fictional account of what had happened, but her sister was suspicious and the child told her what Sheffield had done.

The police were alerted and she directed them to his flat.

Mr Howard said both Sheffield's victims had self-harmed since. One had moved home and the other was now less trusting.

Kate Batty said in mitigation that Sheffield had learning difficulties. He was immature and struggled to fully appreciate what he had done wrong.

He had moved away from Bradford and no longer used social media.

Judge Jonathan Rose ordered Sheffield to undergo two years' supervision by the probation service.

"I will be here if you put a foot wrong," he warned him.

Sheffield must comply with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, banning him from contacting all three girls, and from any unsupervised contact with children.

He must also sign on the sex offenders' register for five years.