A Ministry of Defence (MOD) police sergeant has been jailed for eight years for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Peter Daniel Drummond met the girl online and drove for more than five hours to her home in Cornwall to sleep with her on two separate occasions.

On the second occasion, the girl's stepfather was home and so Drummond, then 37, climbed in through her bedroom window.

When police showed up at his house to arrest him, Drummond deleted everything off his phone.

Sentencing him today at Truro Crown Court, judge Simon Carr spoke about how Drummond manipulated the girl, who he knew was having problems in her personal life.

Judge Carr said: "She opened up to you that she had been having problems with her stepfather. The action of any decent human being would be to get her help, possibly contact her parents. But then you're not a decent human being.

"You exploited that position. You found somebody you could manipulate. You pretended to have her interests at heart."

He went on to say: "You didn't comfort her or listen to her problems, you did the thing you intended to do: have sex with her. Then you left her.

"Your moral compass did not allow you to see that something had happened that should never happen again.

"The next time you went down you took a condom with you because sex was the only thing on your mind.

"You went in through a window knowing her stepfather was downstairs. I suspect that was part of the thrill."

Judge Carr also mentioned the fact that Drummond's actions had led the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to attempt to take her own life.

Drummond pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape and three counts of sexual activity with a child.

A jury at Truro Crown Court found him not guilty of the three rape charges, but did find him guilty of having sex with a child.

Drummond will have to serve at least half of his eight year sentence before being eligible for parole, and he will also be on the sex offender's register for life.

Detective Inspector Paul Norlund, senior investigating officer, said: “Devon and Cornwall Police welcome the eight year jail sentence for Peter Drummond in this complex and serious case.

“The young victim has conducted herself courageously throughout this enquiry and shown a tremendous strength of character whilst giving evidence at the trial, to allow us to bring this dangerous and callous offender to justice. Whilst we hope that this verdict will allow her to find closure, this will be an ordeal that she will live with for a considerable time.

“She has been supported by specialist officers and her family throughout, and we would ask that her and her family are left in peace and to be given the space that will hopefully allow them to move forward from this sad episode.

“Peter Drummond is a disgrace to his family and the organisation he was employed by. He has refused to show any remorse for his premeditated actions, and put his victim both through the ordeal of these attacks, and forcing her to relive those painful memories in court.”

Commenting on the sentencing, an NSPCC spokeswoman for the South West of England said:

“Drummond relentlessly pursued his underage victim on social media, tracking her whereabouts so that he could satisfy his sexual desires.

“His actions will have a long-lasting impact on the teenage girl involved, who has bravely spoken out to ensure he is unable to target other vulnerable young people in this way.

“Not enough is being done to protect children online and we’re campaigning for social networks to offer safe accounts for children and proactively search for, and stop, child grooming on their platforms.”

The NSPCC’s Wild West Web campaign is demanding that the Government make the internet safe for young people by regulating social networks. Supporters can join the campaign here.

The Wild West Web campaign is calling on Government to:

1. Create a tough regulator to hold social networks to account.

2. Require social networks to publish reports outlining the scale of risks on their sites.

3. Force social networks to take proactive steps to tackle grooming.

Any adult concerned about the welfare of a child or young person can call the NSPCC helpline for free and confidential advice on 0808 800 5000 or visit nspcc.org.uk

Children can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or childline.org.uk 24/7, 365 days a year, and speak to a counsellor about a worry or concern they may have.