LONDON, Ont. - He's a longtime bachelor living with his mother who tried to meet a young teenager for sex.

Instead, police arrested Gary Collins at Masonville Place in March 2007.

The girl he'd tried to lure online was a London police officer posing as Shelley Wyatt, a 13-year-old who had agreed to meet him for sex after chatting with him on a social networking website called Netlog.

A year after Collins, 38, was convicted of Internet luring, the Crown and the defence argued his sentencing Tuesday.

Collins' case was delayed because of health issues.

His defence lawyer Gordon Cudmore told Superior Court Justice Kelly Gorman that his client had been "seriously depressed because of this."

He asked Gorman to consider an eight- to 12-month sentence for the man he described as "a loner" and pointed to a positive presentence report.

Collins had no criminal record before his conviction and has been abiding by bail conditions for two years. He lives with his mother and helps her financially.

Cudmore said the sexually charged chats with "Shelley" were "communication for communication's sake" -- simply conversations without any sexual abuse.

He said Collins is "a frightened young man concerned about his future."

Collins wiped tears from his eyes. His mother, who was a courtroom spectator, cried.

Cudmore said Collins' troubled background was "not the best" but he has the support of his mother and has held a job for years.

Assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Chalykoff asked for an 18- to 24-month sentence with three years probation that included limited use of computers and exposure to young children.

She said Collins showed little to no remorse during his presentence report interview and took only "limited responsibility."

The chats with the police officer were sexually explicit, Chalykoff said, with mini pornographic movies attached to them.

He described various sexual acts knowing he was speaking to "a young sexually inexperienced child."

She noted Collins was arrested a short distance from a pre-arranged meeting place in the mall and had with him two Toblerone chocolate bars.

In earlier web discussions "Shelley" said Toblerone was her favourite.

Chalykoff said Collins "fully intended" to carry out the sexual acts once he met the girl.

She called Collins "a sexual predator" who "used the Internet to lure one of the most vulnrerable segments of our society -- our children."

She said he poses a risk to children who surf the web.

The ability to communicate with people around the world, Chalykoff said, has allowed children "to become prey to sexual predators in a way not even contemplated 10 years ago, 15 years ago."

And she asked Gorman to send a strong denunciatory message by sentencing Collins to a lengthy jail sentence.

Gorman reserved her sentencing decision until March 1.

Jane Sims is The Free Press justice reporter. jane.sims@sunmedia.ca