‘I wanted to abduct a girl then sexually abuse her’

Last summer, a man in the Midlands stepped into his van, turned on the ignition, and pulled away from the kerb — and he had little doubt about what he wanted to do.

He was on the lookout for a young girl, any girl, a girl with whom he could strike up conversation before bundling her into his van and taking her off somewhere to abuse.

For decades, the 42-year-old man had harboured fantasies about young girls, ever since, in his 20s, he’d watched a friend groom and sexually assault a number of them.