Labour Party Official (North West England Regional Officer, and Parliamentary Adviser to the Home Office Minister responsible for Crime and Policing, Hazel Blears), Peter Tuffley was arrested for the sexual molestation of a 13-year old boy that he had previously 'Groomed' on the internet. Tuffley was described as a 'rising star' within the Labour Party. Tuffley, who was 28 at the time of his trial, was working in the North West when he took the teenager back to his flat in Liverpool after they met through an internet chatroom.

Ironically, Tuffley also did worked for both the NSPCC and Barnardos.

Bolton Crown Court heard that Tuffley called the boy "cute" and "babe" in emails and text messages before taking the youngster to stay overnight at his flat on 12 March 2005.

On a chatroom website, the boy claimed to be 18, gay and from the North West. He later told police he admitted to Tuffley he was still at school – but told him he was 15.

Both defendant and victim had profiles and photos of themselves on the website and the boy said that he was attracted to older men.

Judge Kushner, sentencing, told the former assistant to Labour Party chairman Hazel Blears that it gave her no pleasure to see him in this situation. She said "You are well educated, you have charm, charisma and ambition." she added "I accept that it was the boy who made the running to meet you but the jury decided that you should have been aware that it was a juvenile who was contacting you.

She said she did think he was a predator and a non-custodial sentence would send out the "wrong message". "Adults should not approach minors even if it is the child who initiates the contact" she added.

Ray Herman, defending, said Tuffley's loneliness and high-powered, stressful job had led to a string of extraordinary errors of judgment. He had lost his political career as a result and now had no chance of fulfilling his aspirations to become a MP, he added.

Sentencing Tuffley at Bolton Crown Court, Mr Justice Kushner told him he should have known what he was doing was wrong because one of his mentors, ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett had brought in the new Grooming Law. Tuffley, of Pipersfield, Ridgewood, East Sussex, denied the boy's claim they kissed and cuddled in his bed on March 12 last year and the jury cleared him of sexual activity with a child. But he was convicted of sexual grooming on the internet and child abduction following his six day trial.

The former New Labour High Flyer was sentenced to 15 months in jail for grooming a 13-year-old boy on the internet.