Evan Hedley Smith knew she was underage when he said he wanted her virginity, but it turns out the 14-year-old girl he confessed his love for was actually an undercover cop.
Police swooped on the 63-year-old Mosgiel man when he parked next to a Dunedin playground on December 20, 2018.
That's when he discovered the supposed teen he had been grooming was a police officer.
"You were grooming her for a sexual encounter with you," Judge Michel Turner told Smith when he appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Wednesday morning.
Judge Turner convicted Smith of sexually grooming a teen online and sentenced him to five months' home detention.
Smith's plea and conviction had been vacated in October after he told a probation officer he did not accept the offending and did not not believe the person he messaged online was underage. Judge Michael Crosbie told Smith at the time that he was "resetting the clock".
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The court heard Smith started an online conversation with the person, who he later found out was supposedly 14.
Smith told the undercover officer "age is only a number" and he was happy to continue their online relationship.
He showered the person with almost 500 complements over several months, and confessed his love for her 40 times.
He first proposed a meeting when she told him she would be visiting Dunedin, and said he wanted a picture of her.
His messages became increasingly sexual, and he asked if she was virgin so she could save herself for him.
The teen claimed she lived near a park, which was where the pair planned to meet.
Smith was arrested on December 20 and acknowledged he had communicated with the supposed teen over Facebook, but denied texting her.
He was placed on the sex offender register and disqualified from driving for six months.
