A WOMAN has been jailed for grooming and having a sexual relationship with a vulnerable child.

Carole Taylor was 32 when she began grooming a 15-year-old boy via mobile phone messages.

After several weeks, the pair met and had sex on two occasions.

Detective Sergeant Michaela Haddock, of the East Sussex Safeguarding investigations Unit, said the teenagers “extraordinary bravery” in providing evidence helped convict Taylor.

Taylor, now 35, was convicted of two counts of sexual activity of a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming and sexual communication with a child.

After a six-day trial, she was sentenced to five years in prison.

The Argus: Carole Taylor, from Eastbourne Carole Taylor, from Eastbourne

Taylor, of Seaside Road, Eastbourne, will also be a registered sex offender for life.

Det Sgt Haddock said: “The court heard that she had a sexual relationship with a highly vulnerably 15-year-old boy who was known to her.

“This was a distressing case in which this boy was groomed and sexually exploited by somebody who he looked up to and felt that he could trust.

“His extraordinary bravery in providing evidence in this case is admirable and no doubt played a vital part in the jury returning the unanimous verdict that they did.

"The sentence reflects the seriousness of the irreparable impact that Taylor’s behaviour has had on this child, but I hope that it will now allow him to move forward positively with his life.

"All reports of the abuse of children are taken extremely seriously and anyone with information about any such offending can contact us at any time and arrange to talk in confidence to our investigators."