A YATE man has been jailed for grooming after a ‘sting’ operation by an online paedophile hunting group.
Rodolfa Galvao, aged 49, had been communicating online with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl via Facebook.
South Wales Police said Galvao (pictured above) booked a room at a bed and breakfast in Mumbles, near Swansea, and planned to use it to have sexual activity with the girl.
However the account was actually being run by a Facebook group called DANK Dragon, which says it specialises in “live feed exposure of online predators”.
Police arrested Galvao after he was confronted by the “decoy group” in Swansea’s Parc Tawe retail and leisure park, where he had arranged to meet the girl at a bowling alley.
A police spokesperson said: “A review of Galvao’s phone showed he had sent messages which were sexual in nature to the account.”
Galvao pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court in October to attempting to meet a girl aged under 16 year following grooming.
He was jailed for 14 months.
The court heard he had taken alcohol, condoms and a copy of the Kama Sutra erotic book to the room in the B&B.
‘He poses a danger to children’
Detective Constable Rebecca Brain said: “Rodolfa Galvao believed he was communicating with a child and still sent explicit sexual messages to them, even going to the lengths of arranging to meet them.
“It is clear that he poses a danger to children, and it is fortunate that the ‘child’ at the other end of the conversation was not real.
“He is fully deserving of a spell in prison.”
The police spokesperson added: “We never underestimate how difficult it is for survivors of sexual abuse to speak out and report.
“But we hope cases like this one provide reassurance that victims will be listened to, treated with dignity and respect, and will be supported throughout the judicial process.
“If you have been sexually abused, and you are not yet ready to report to police, please don’t suffer in silence.”
Support and advice for victims of sexual offences can be found via South Wales Police here and Avon & Somerset police here.