A South Ockendon pervert has been sentenced after admitting child porn charges.

Peter Hyam, 57, of no fixed abode, was handed a 32-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to arranging to facilitate the commission of a sex offence and making indecent images of minors.

The paedophile was caught by vigilante group Letzgohunting when he tried to contact what he thought were girls as young as 14 via the internet in an attempt to meet them in hotels for sex acts.

Letzgohunting posed as the under-age girls in order to expose Mr Hyam, and posted the details online.

Hyam pleaded guilty to ‘Arranging to facilitate the commission of a sex offence’ and also to a new, separate charge of ‘Making indecent images of minors’.

A total of 20 images were found during investigations on the criminal’s computer, of varying seriousness.

A spokesman for Letzgohunting said: “We were expecting a longer sentence, but we’re pleased he got a prison sentence – as not all criminals do.”

The images were recovered from Foxglove Road, South Ockendon in December 2014 during police investigations.