A MAN has been jailed for 13 years for raping a young girl and having indecent pictures of children.

A court heard Edward Greening also led girls to believe he ran a pornographic film business, offering them money to pose for indecent pictures.

Greening, 35, admitted raping a girl aged between 13 and 16 when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court.

He also admitted inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and possessing indecent images of children.

Greening, now of Charlotte Street, South Woodham Ferrers, denied three further rape charges and two of making and possessing indecent images of children. These pleas were accepted by the prosecution.

The court heard the offences took place in a village near Colchester between September 2004 and March last year and involved two girls aged between 13 and 16.

The exact location and the victims’ exact ages cannot be published for legal reasons.

Judge Rodger Hayward Smith QC told Greening one of the few mitigating factors in the case was the fact he had pleaded guilty and spared his victims the ordeal of giving evidence in court.

David Holborn, prosecuting, said the offences came to light when one of the girls told a social worker what Greening had been doing to her.

Greening’s lawyer, Jacqueline Carey, told the court: “He did the decent thing and pleaded guilty.”

She suggested her client would have difficulty coping in prison.

At an earlier hearing, Greening’s wife June, 34, also of Charlotte Street, South Woodham Ferrers, had denied aiding and abetting the making of indecent pictures of one of the girls.

At yesterday’s hearing, the prosecution said it now had no plans to proceed with this charge.

A formal not guilty verdict was entered and Mrs Greening was formally discharged by the court.