A renowned British doctor posed for two years as a 13-year-old girl on the Internet to exchange photographs and sexually explicit messages, medical watchdogs heard on Tuesday.
Thomas Dent, 42, called himself "Katie Beckinsale" to fool 26 youngsters with indecent language about sex and underwear.
He looked at pornographic websites and traded pictures with teenagers whilst talking to them in chatrooms about orgasms and masturbation, the General Medical Council (GMC) heard.
The married Dent, who has since resigned as a senior director at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, emailed one girl: "You look so good in that bikini. It's so cool you are into panties too. I am horny again now."
He was caught by chance on a train in May 2004 when he sat next to a police constable who saw him look at a picture of a teenage girl on his laptop and pose as "Katie".
Craig Sephton, representing the GMC, told the hearing: "Mr Dent used computers to access email, chatrooms and pornographic sites purporting to be a young girl. He gave misleading statements to police."
Dent accessed porn websites related to teenagers and sexual fetishes related to incontinence, the hearing was told.
{{/usCountry}}Dent accessed porn websites related to teenagers and sexual fetishes related to incontinence, the hearing was told.
{{/usCountry}}The midical watchdog investigation is not being accompanied by a criminal court case.
Hampshire Police arrested Dent in June 2004 on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children and of 'grooming' children on the internet for sexual purposes.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case, saying there was no realistic prospect of a conviction.
Dent is not contesting the charges of serious professional misconduct put forward by the GMC. He told the hearing in a statement: "I am ashamed of what I did".