Hampshire man who fathered child with step-daughter in court

With an age gap of around 26 years between them, he would buy her presents and call her “my daughter”.

• Paedophile secretly used Xbox to search for "teenage porn"

The man from a town near Southampton became the girl’s stepfather when she was around two and a half-years-old.

But when she turned 16 the two conceived a child together in July 2007, a court heard - she went on to give birth to a baby boy.

• Man with 'low IQ' surfed web for ‘very, very young porn'
• Pensioner had more than 7,000 indecent images of children with files named 'Pedoland, Preteen and Lolita'

Appearing at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday, the man in his 50s faced a charge of adult sexual activity with a female child family member to which he previously pleaded guilty.

Prosecution barrister, Richard Onslow told how the man was interviewed by police in 2016 and asked if he had had sex with his victim - he made no comment.

• Paedophile arranged to meet 13-year-old when his girlfriend was at work

Mr Onslow told how a paternity test showed the man was at least 201 million times more likely than any other man to be the biological father of the child.

He argued how very few 16-year-old girls plan to have children and how it must have had a significant effect on her life.

• Demands for tighter control on social media following Southampton paedophile's "horrific intentions"

Defending, Jodie Mittell said how he has no recollection of the offence.

She argued he “potentially suffers from a learning difficulty and or dependence on others”.

Judge Peter Henry jailed him for four years. He will be on licence when he is released and subject to supervision.

Placed on the sex offenders register he was given a restraining order against his victim.