MARRIED MAN BOOKED HOTEL FOR 'TEENAGE GIRL' AND TURNED UP WITH SINGLE ROSE AND BAR OF CHOCOLATE
A married man groomed what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl he'd met online then booked a hotel room for them and stocked it with alcopops, condoms, lubricant, sex toys, and a copy of the Karma Sutra sex book, a court has heard.Rodolfa Galvao was arrested after turning up to meet the child at a 10-pin bowling alley only to be confronted by members of a paedophile hunter group.
Sending the 49-year-old defendant down, a judge at Swansea Crown Court said there was "only one reason" why the defendant had booked the room and equipped it with the items he had, and he said he had no doubt Galvao had intended to engage in sexual activity with someone he believed to be a girl.
The judge noted the defendant had expressed no real remorse only "self pity".
Helen Randall, prosecuting, told the court that the online contact began when Galvao sent a message to a Facebook profile which appeared to be that of a 14-year-old girl.
She said the profile was actually a decoy being operated by a volunteer from the group Dank Dragon.
The decoy made it clear she was aged 14 but the defendant continued the conversation.
The court heard Galvao and the decoy exchanged phone numbers and then began chatting on WhatsApp, and that during the conversation the decoy talked about school and babysitting.
The court heard the defendant talked about meeting what he believed to be a girl, and he said it would be "our little secret".
When asked if the decoy's age was a problem, the defendant replied that "age is just a number".
The court heard that the conversation between the pair continued with Galvao talking about giving massages and about booking a hotel room for them.
When the decoy said she was nervous at the prospect of going to a hotel the defendant told her that he would be gentle on her "first time" and told her he had found his "true love".
The prosecutor said Galvao and the decoy arranged to meet, and on July 21 this year the defendant arrived at a 10-pin bowling alley in Swansea for the rendezvous carrying a single rose and a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate.
He was challenged by waiting members of the online group who recognised him from this profile picture, and the police were called.
The court heard the Galvao said he "wanted to make a good first impression".
Police discovered the defendant had booked a room in a hotel in Mumbles for two nights, and a search of the room found bottles of alcopops, tequila, and Champagne, along with sex toys, lubricant, condoms, and a copy of the Kama Sutra sex book.
Rodolfa Galvao, of Dowsell Way, Yate, Bristol, had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child under 16 following sexual grooming when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has no previous convictions.
Hannah George, for Galvao, said the defendant was a Brazilian national who had moved to Portugal in his 20s and subsequently came to the UK a decade ago and settled in the Bristol area.
She said the defendant was a hard-working man who delivered baked goods for his wife's business while studying accountancy, and said he also volunteered at a local food bank.
The barrister said the offence the defendant had pleaded to inevitably came with a certain stigma, and said her client had found it difficult being held on remand "given the views of others in the prison system".
Judge Paul Thomas KC said there was "only one reason" why the defendant had booked the Mumbles hotel room and equipped it with the items he had, and he said he had no doubt Galvao that had intended to engage in penetrative sexual activity with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
He described the chocolate and the rose the defendant took to the meeting in the bowling alley as "bribes".
The judge said he had read the pre-sentence report in the case in which Galvao had put forward "highly imaginative excuses, none of which had any credibility" and said it seemed there was no real remorse only "self pity".
The author of the pre-sentence report could recommend no sentence other than immediate custody.
With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Galvao was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
The defendant will be a registered sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.
