A Suffolk man who sent a 15-year-old girl a naked picture of himself and told her he wanted to have sex with her has been ordered to attend a sex offenders' treatment programme.

Police went to Graeme Buckingham's home in Gisleham in December last year after being tipped off that a person using his email address had been having inappropriate contact with the teenager in an internet chat room, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Nicola May, prosecuting, said the girl had initially pretended to be 19 but Buckingham had become aware within a few days of her real age.

She said that Buckingham had encouraged the girl to touch herself and had offered to buy her a sex toy.

He had also told the girl he wanted to have sex with her and had sent her naked pictures of himself and had got her to send him one of her.

When police went to his home a computer was found to have five indecent images of children on it.

Buckingham, 53, of Black Street, Gisleham, admitted two offences of making indecent images of children and inciting a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

He was given a three year community order during which he will have to attend the Thames Valley Sex Offenders' Treatment programme.

He was also given a three year supervision order and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for five years.

Sentencing him Judge Rupert Overbury said:'Over a period of two weeks you engaged in quite inappropriate sexual communication with a 15-year-old girl. It's plain that from an early stage you knew she was 15 but you carried on a conversation in which it appears she took a full and active part.'

He said the girl had not wanted to be involved in the court proceedings either by making a complaint or a victim impact statement.

Andrew Thompson, for Buckingham, said his client had no previous convictions and was in receipt of disability living allowance.

He said Buckingham had been lonely since the break up of his marriage. He said that during Buckingham's initial exchange with the girl she described herself as a 19-year-old woman.