A "PERVERTED monster" who hunted out and sexually groomed boys using Facebook has been sent to prison.

Christopher Hodder set up a fake online profile and pretended to be a girl as he tricked teens into providing intimate images of themselves.

Carlisle Crown Court heard 31-year-old Hodder had been sentenced for a previous grooming crime in 2013.

Part of his punishment was not to contact any children aged under 16 via the internet.

But last year police unearthed a catalogue of new offences after learning Hodder had communicated with a teenage boy using social media. Officers found he had targeted a total of 13 separate young victims - including two brothers.

Hodder later pleaded guilty to 19 charges. These included five counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; eight attempts to do the same; two breaches of a court order he was given in 2013; and several child porn charges.

Hodder, of Union Square, Kirkby Stephen, was sentenced today (FRI) when moving impact statements were read in court by some of the victims' relatives.

"Mine and my family's life has been ruined," stated the father of one boy. "This perverted monster should never be allowed to walk the streets again."

Judge Tony Lancaster imposed a four-year jail term and directed that Hodder should be subject to an extended three-year licence period.

Judge Lancaster told him: "Your offending was mean, volatile and predatory."

A spokesperson for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said: “It’s every parent’s nightmare that their children will be targeted while they are online by abusers like Hodder.

“We hope this sentence not only serves to protect children from Hodder, but that it also acts as a warning to other online abusers that they can and will be caught and brought to justice.

"Online safety is one of the major 21st century child protection challenges.

"In order to prevent the creation and distribution of child abuse images, we want to see a specialist digital child abuse unit in every police force who are trained to deal with these offences."