A man with learning difficulties has been jailed after he sent sexual messages to schoolgirls on the internet.

Adam Wilby was unaware that two out of three girls he was contacting were actually fake profiles set up by vigilante paedophile hunters.

Michael Morley, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court Wilby’s offending began in November 2015 when he contacted a genuine 13-year-old via Facebook.

During their exchange he asked if she was pretty, told her not to tell her mother about him, asked if she was a virgin and what underwear she wore.

At one stage he was aroused and asked if she wanted to lose her virginity. He went on to ask her to put her hand down her knickers and touch herself while talking “dirty” to him.

Mr Morley said the girl refused. She said she did not like it, told her mother what he had said and the police were informed.

Meanwhile in August last year a vigilante group called Guardians of the North set up a fake profile for a 13-year-old and Wilby sent her a friend request. He told her he was 25 and asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend.

He began asking her personal questions and requested a picture and later said he would like to have sex with her in her school uniform. He told her to touch her breasts and sent her a photo of an erect penis.

He also urged her to touch herself and a plan was made for them to meet up at a station in Newcastle. In fact, he never turned up and after tracing him to an address where adults with disability lived the Guardians did not confront him but turned the material over to the police.

Another fictitious profile was set up by a group in the south of England, posing as a 14-year-old and between June and July this year he exchanged similar messages saying he would like her to touch him.

Richard Canning, representing Wilby, said he had the learning age of a 10-year-old and had turned to social media because he had difficulty in making friends and relationships. His talk was purely fantasy and he had no intention of meeting them.

Wilby, now 26 of Walkley Terrace, Heckmondwike, admitted three charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

Jailing him for a total of 12 months, Deputy Circuit Judge James Spencer QC said he accepted Wilby had developmental difficulties but “you need to be reminded this kind of activity is criminal.”