A "predatory paedophile" posed as a woman online to get a 13-year-old girl to send him indecent pictures of herself, a court heard.

Adrian Scarlett, 39, formerly of Nursery Close, Dartford, allegedly met the victim at the house of a mutual friend in Downham on November 14 last year.

Later that day he used a fake Facebook account in the name of ‘Ami’ to make contact with the teenager, Bromley Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (November 18).

He claimed ‘Ami’ worked for Littlewoods and if the girl sent him two topless photos of herself they would help get her work as a model, the court was told.

Scarlett also added ‘Ami’ would send the images to her "Uncle Adrian", who would pay £50 for them, the court heard.

The court was told Scarlett then admitted who he was and after, receiving the pictures on his mobile phone, arranged to meet the victim at Beckenham tram stop to hand over the cash.

Scarlett wept as a 70-minute police interview recorded on the day of his arrest on December 16 was played to the court.

He told DC Laura Day, of the Met’s specialist sexual exploitation team, that when he first met the teenager she said she “wanted money and I knew she wouldn’t be able to pay it back.

"I just said ‘give me two pictures of your breasts and I’ll give you 50 quid for them’.

"She sent me two selfies. They were from the waste up and she had her hair over her breasts and that was it.

"From her chin you could just see her Adam’s apple.

"She’s pretty but she had nothing going for her.

"They are everywhere aren’t they, selfies, everyone does it."

During the interview it emerged the pictures of the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been sent to Scarlett’s Nokia mobile phone, which he later destroyed.

He claimed he had admitted to the teenager that Ami was not a former pupil of her school, as the Facebook profile claimed.

Scarlett alleged that at their first meeting the girl "was being really seductive", "looked like a proper young woman" with a "tight top" and had her "boobs popping out".

But when they next met at Beckenham tram stop she was dressed "just normal" and had no make-up on, though Scarlett still paid her the agreed £50.

He said: "I looked at her in jeans and I just said ‘don’t ever contact me again’.

"I just could have died there and then when I realised she wasn’t how old I thought she was.”

In the interview DC Day confronted Scarlett, who sounded hysterical and had to be calmed down at points.

She said: "This has gone from being ‘I’ll give you 50 quid for a picture of your boobs’ to the behaviour of a predatory paedophile.

"You have actually deceived her by pretending to be a child online."

Scarlett replied: "You’re making me look bad.

"I’m so sick over what I did, I promise you.

"I made a stupid mistake I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life.

"It wasn’t even that bad."

He added: "I didn't mean to do it. It was a picture of her boobs, not even a proper picture."

Scarlett, of Pevensey Court, Maidstone, denies one charge of paying for the sexual services of a girl aged 13 to 15 and one of causing a girl aged 13 to 17 to engage in pornography.

He has also pleaded not guilty to one count of meeting a girl under 16 following grooming.

His trial began on September 25 but had to be extended after overrunning its two day slot.

It was adjourned again yesterday at the end of the prosecution's case and Scarlett will likely give evidence evidence in his own defence on February 6 next year when the trial moves into a fourth day.

He appeared yesterday wearing a striped grey suit and supported by members of his family.

The trial continues.