Dagenham woman poses as boy to seduce schoolgirls

A lesbian paedophile who posed as a teenage boy to groom two underage girls for sex was jailed for 18 months on Friday.

Natalie Reed, 30, of Wellington Drive, Dagenham targeted the schoolgirls aged 12 and 14 after an introduction through a mutual friend.

Reed pretended she was 17-year-old William Hymes, Inner London Crown Court heard.

She tried to persuade the first victim to have sex during several meetings.

The second girl agreed to a rendezvous but backed out at the last minute and Reed was arrested.

Reed tracked the 12-year-old down on social networking sites,

After a few months called her on her telephone and asked her out.

Lisa Matthews, prosecuting, said: “He said he was 17. He also told her that he wanted to sleep with her. She would say no.”

Reed then met the second victim, who was a friend of the first.

“He told her over the phone that he wanted to sleep with her. She was 14”, added Ms Matthews

Reed admitted two counts of meeting a child aged 13-15 following sexual grooming between January 1 2007 and January 17 2009.

Judge Usha Karu said: “It’s plain that both of them have been severely traumatised by what happened and that they will take a long time to recover if they ever will at all.”

The judge banning Reed from contacting children indefinitely unless they are members of her own family and will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The court heard Reed has “considerable emotional baggage and identity issues” partly due to her parents splitting up when she was 15.

A psychologist who interviewed her felt she was “dealing with a young boy rather than a 30-year-old woman”.