Morris Lightfoot, who lived on Dryden Close, Bilton, Harrogate, at the time was caught in a sting operation by an administrator on a social networking site.
Lightfoot started to have pervert online chats with 'Tina' despite one chatroom barring him, said Nick Worsley, prosecuting at York Crown Court, but instead of the 13-year-old girl he believed her to be, 'Tina' was Tony Graves, the adult male moderator of chatroom 'Zorbie', who set a trap for the former Harrogate Deputy Mayor and Current County Councillor.
"It seems to me that if it hadn't been for the very responsible activity of Mr Graves, proprietor of this site, you may have got in touch with a real 13-year-old and that may have led to serious sexual offending on your part." Judge Peter Benson told Lightfoot.
"His life as a responsible and decent citizen is effectively over." said his barrister Jeremy Barnett. "The defendant feels a deep and lasting sense of shame."
Mr Worsley said Mr Graves became alarmed by the behaviour of Lightfoot under the virtual name 'Mooser' in his chatroom and masqueraded as 'Tina', who was 'youngcuriouswoman' and repeatedly told Lightfoot that he was 13-years-old.
But in one chat lasting an hour and a half, the county councillor told her he wanted sex with her, begged her to send him photos of her and boasted about having sex with a 16-year-old girl. He also asked what she was wearing and in another chat, tried to set up a meeting.
Lightfoot had asked the girl if she wanted to lose her virginity to him even though she repeatedly made it clear she was only 13. Then he suggested a meeting with the girl in Harrogate, and sent her pictures of himself in a state of undress, though none was deemed indecent.
When 'Tina' told 'Mooser' she was going to police, Lightfoot tried to erase all records of his chats from his computer, but the Police Online Protection and Hi-Tech Units tracked him down and reconstructed some of the chats.
Mr Barnett said Lightfoot initially fled to Spain, but came back to face the music.
The court heard he suffered from memory loss and was taking medication for stress and anxiety.
He had financial problems over his mortgage and at the time of the offences had been effectively doing two jobs – working full-time evening shifts at his paid employment and doing 40 hours work as a councillor.
Lightfoot, of Dryden Close, Bilton, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to three charges of grooming a 13-year-old girl. In addition to jailing him, the judge barred Lightfoot from working with children in a paid or voluntary capacity or contacting them in any way including via the internet.
Lightfoot, a former deputy mayor and councillor of Harrogate was sentenced to eight months in prison for attempting to groom a 13-year-old girl for sex.