Lee Grovell (Image: Gwent Police)
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Lee Grovell, 56, of Garn Cross, Nantyglo, has been jailed for 32 months after he was snared by an online sting in which he believed he was chatting to a 14-year-old girl.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Grovell – already a convicted paedophile – was caught when members of an unnamed paedophile hunting group confronted him outside a pub in Newport. The encounter was filmed before the group called 999 and police arrived to arrest him.
The sting
Between November 17, 2025 and December 2, 2025, Grovell had been messaging someone he believed to be an underage schoolgirl. In reality, she was a member of the hunting group posing as a child.
Prosecutor Ben Jones told the court that Grovell had asked the supposed girl sexualised questions about her bra size and whether she shaved her private parts.
Previous offending
The court heard Grovell had a significant history of sexual offending. In 2016, he was jailed for 11 months for making indecent images of children, possession of extreme pornography, and voyeurism.
Six years ago, he received a nine-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, for failing to comply with sex offender registration notification requirements.
Mitigation
His barrister, Alice Sykes, told the court the best mitigation she could put forward was that Grovell had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity in the magistrates’ court.
Sentencing
Recorder Greg Bull KC told Grovell: “You pose a risk of very serious harm, especially to young girls.
“Your pre-sentence report makes for depressing reading.
“You have been given many opportunities to change your thinking towards young girls.
“You have also tried to minimise the seriousness of your offending.”
Grovell was sentenced to 16 months for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and a consecutive 16 months for breaching a sexual harm prevention order, giving a total of 32 months. He was told he would serve around half of that time in custody before being released on licence.
He must register as a sex offender for life and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for life.
