A REGISTERED sex offender travelled from London to Yorkshire with the intention of sexually abusing a child he had groomed on the internet.

Hegoda Makalanda travelled from the capital to Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on October 27 last year, where he believed he would be meeting the child.

But instead he was arrested by detectives as part of a joint operation involving South Yorkshire Police and the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit (YH ROCU).

Makalanda had been engaging with officers from the YH ROCU as part of a covert investigation.

Appearing before Sheffield Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, the 45-year-old, of Drapers Road, Enfield, North London, was jailed for nine years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely. He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Makalanda had pleaded guilty to four offences, including meeting a child following grooming, sexual communication with a child, arranging the sexual exploitation of a child, and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, at a hearing in November last year.

The court heard he was already on a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order after being convicted of making and possessing indecent images of children dating back to 2010.

 

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