A Douglas man has been jailed for 17 months for the sexual grooming of a child, in the first case of its kind in the Isle of Man.

Forty-one year old John James McCurrie had pleaded guilty on three counts, and appeared for sentence at the Court of General Gaol this afternoon.

In a statement, the investigation team said McCurrie 'totally brainwashed' the girl and his grooming process was described in court as 'sophisticated'.

After he was charged in December last year, he continued to make contact with the victim by using her friends as go-betweens.

The court was told he showed contempt for the law, and committed the final offence he pleaded guilt to while on bail.

Detective Sergeant Cathryn Bradley of the Public Protection Unit said the young victim was unwilling to cooperate with police as Mc Currie had 'totally brainwashed the girl' into believing they were in love.

As a result, she couldn't accept what he was doing was wrong.

The offences were committed in late 2008 and early this year when the girl was aged between 14 and 15.

Deemster Doyle told McCurrie, whose address was given as Duke Street in Peel, he had intended to take advantage of the girl to satisfy his sexual desires.

He went on, McCurrie claimed he had offered himself as a father figure, but that wasn't true.

McCurrie was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years and banned from contacting the girl in any way until she is 18.