A MAN who confessed to having sex with a 14-year-old girl after sneaking into her bedroom was spared jail.

Daniel Foley, 20, appeared at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday after admitting two counts of sexual activity with a child on January 5.

Prosecutor Rachel Drake said Foley was living in Leighton Buzzard when he and the girl began communicating through Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger, phone calls and texts.

She said the pair arranged to meet in Grove and Foley visited the girl’s house, where he ‘misled’ her father, telling him he was 17 and not 19 at the time.

Ms Drake said Foley later climbed into the girl’s bedroom through the window and spent the night with her.

The barrister said the mother of one of the girls friends discovered Foley was not 17 and told the child’s father after seeing pictures of the pair on Facebook.

She said Foley was later arrested after officers interviewed the child – who mentioned their sexual relationship.

Ms Drake added: “He knew right at the very start that she was 14. This defendant was the adult in the situation.”

Defence barrister Johnathan Lewis said it was highly unlikely Foley would re-appear in court.

Recorder John Hardy said imprisoning Foley would be ‘counterproductive’.

He added: “Any form of sexual offence committed against a person who is under the age of consent is always a serious matter.

“It’s plain that she realises now, although she did not do then, that you were taking advantage of her.

“You too are relatively young, foolish, naive, and it appears to me, not yet of a level of maturity to understand how proper relationships are formed and pursued.”

Foley, of Ridgeway Road, Luton, was handed a three-year community order, with supervision, and told to attend a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offences register and made subject to a five-year sexual harm protection order.