A married Royal Navy man was today facing jail after he was caught trawling the internet for sex with young girls.

As fellow servicemen fought in the Gulf, weapons expert Jeremy Pepper was spelling out his requirements to a contact he thought could arrange child sex holidays.

But the man he was communicating with was an undercover police officer in the USA, posing as an online child sex contact.

Pepper, 32, of The Upper Drive, Hove, downloaded more than 400 pictures of girls as young as six on his home computer.

He also requested film footage of youngsters being abused by adults "so I can see what to expect".

He was arrested after he complained he was becoming increasingly desperate.

Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court heard Pepper - a chief petty officer based at HMS Drake barracks in Plymouth - was caught during a joint operation by US and British authorities.

He posed as a 26-year-old bisexual woman when he first made contact with the American undercover officer in a chatroom on June 27, 2001. The detective had set himself up as someone who could offer paedophiles access to children.

Pepper was asked by the undercover officer what type of pictures he was looking for and he replied: "Nude, eight upwards." He sent emails to the United States via the chatroom and in June 2002 was passed on to a Scotland Yard undercover officer using the screen name "Sterlings21".

Miranda Moore, QC, prosecuting, said: "This case revolves around the defendant's use of the internet to have correspondence with two people of similar interest to himself and that would be an interest in child pornography and what has come to be known as sex tourism, where adult men travel abroad to abuse children."

She said he requested 11 to 14-year-old females and went on to negotiate terms.

Detectives raided Pepper's home in March last year and found 432 pictures of girls on his computer. Pepper quit the Royal Navy after his arrest.

He admitted four offences which took place between September 17, 2002, and February 11 last year. One involved the distribution of indecent photographs of children to an undercover officer, another of attempting to incite such an offence.

A third count accused him of making 432 indecent photos of under-age children while the last detailed a bid to incite the procurement of a young girl for sex.

Adjourning sentence, Judge Simon Smith warned Pepper: "The question of sentence is entirely open." He was bailed until October 1.