Married man jailed for grooming ‘girl, 14’ and booking hotel

A married man who groomed what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl online before booking a hotel room stocked with alcopops, condoms, lubricant, sex toys and a copy of the Kama Sutra has been jailed.

Rodolfa Galvao, 49, from Yate in Bristol, was arrested after turning up to meet the child at a 10-pin bowling alley in Swansea carrying a single rose and a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate, only to be confronted by members of paedophile hunter group Dank Dragon.

Swansea Crown Court heard the defendant had sent a message to what he believed was a 14-year-old girl on Facebook. The profile was actually a decoy operated by the online group, and despite being told the ‘girl’ was aged 14, Galvao continued the conversation.

During their WhatsApp exchanges, the defendant told the decoy it would be “our little secret” and when asked if her age was a problem, replied that “age is just a number”. He talked about booking a hotel room and told her he would be gentle on her “first time”, claiming he had found his “true love”.

When challenged by the group at the bowling alley on 21 July this year, Galvao said he “wanted to make a good first impression”. 🎳

Police discovered he had booked a room at a hotel in Mumbles for two nights. A search found bottles of alcopops, tequila and Champagne, along with sex toys, lubricant, condoms and a copy of the Kama Sutra sex book.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said there was “only one reason” why the defendant had booked the room and equipped it with those items, and he had no doubt Galvao intended to engage in penetrative sexual activity with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. He described the chocolate and rose as “bribes”.

The judge noted that Galvao had put forward “highly imaginative excuses, none of which had any credibility” and said there was no real remorse, only “self pity”.

Galvao pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child under 16 following sexual grooming. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison and will be a registered sex offender for 10 years.