JAMES Chester maybe an adult but he doesn't look it as he has a boyish face.

In fact, the 22-year-old man exploited his youthful looks to tempt a young girl, 13, into bed.

His unlawful double life started in September 2005 when he pretended to be a 16-year-old schoolboy.

He successfully enrolled in St Edmund's Catholic School in Portsmouth and joined 14 year olds in class, reported The Sun.

He managed to get away with his pretence for three weeks before he was found out and given the boot.

But no action was taken against him.

YOUNG PREY

Emboldened, he tried to enrol in a second school.

He preyed on the teenager for five months. During that time, the young couple had sex.

But he was exposed when he kidnapped the girl from her home in Portsmouth after telling one of her relatives that they were going out for a pint of milk.

The couple made their way to Northern Ireland and their disappearance sparked a nationwide search. He was arrested three days later.

Chester pleaded guilty in a court to multiple counts of sexual activity with a child. He also admitted abducting the girl in August last year.

He will be sentenced on 9 Sep In the meantime, the young man has been remanded for psychiatric reports.

The victim's family said they had no idea Chester was really an adult.

The family and young man were on such friendly terms that he was regularly invited to join the family for dinner. He even stayed back to help with the washing up.

Sometimes, he would join them at Sunday services.

Said the girl's father: 'I hope he gets locked away for a long time.

'He turned up at our home wearing uniform and said he went to school in Chichester, West Sussex.'

He added that his family welcomed Chester into their home and were 'extremely nice' to him.

'We trusted him and he wasn't anything he said he was. It's difficult to get over. She's only a young girl. As a family we did everything we could to protect her.'

The girl's father said he is angry that Chester went to 'extraordinary lengths to groom her'.

The Daily Mail reported that Chester was 19 when he doctored his birth certificate to enrol at the school.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Aug 1, 2008.