A man who engaged in sexually explicit correspondence with an underage girl from Guelph received a conditional sentence with lengthy probation in Ontario Court of Justice Tuesday.

Mason Cochrane, 21, of the Owen Sound area, was given a three-year probation period. He was also ordered to submit a genetic sample for a national DNA databank and is to be added to the country’s sex offender registry.

Cochrane pleaded guilty to child luring before Justice Norm Douglas several weeks ago in connection with his use of the social networking site Tagged to chat with a 14-year-old girl. They also chatted by phone over a four-week period.

Cochrane at one point offered to date the girl in exchange for sex, and also sent her a sexually explicit photograph of himself.

The girl’s father subsequently discovered the picture.

Cochrane had presented himself as a 16-year-old boy online. His computer contained evidence of chats he’d had with girls ranging in age from 13 to 17.