A North Yorkshire man sent sexually explicit images of himself to an underage girl.

Rowan Brewster traumatised the girl after targeting her on online messaging sites, North Yorkshire Police said.

The 19-year-old of Dundas Gardens, Whitby, pleaded guilty to sexual communication with the girl, causing her to watch or look at images of sexual activity, and making indecent photos or pseudo photos of children. The offences happened in October 2022 when Brewster was aged 18.

He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order for traumatising a girl and an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at York Crown Court on Wednesday (May 15).

Brewster sent the victim both still and moving images of his private parts via Snapchat and Instagram, a police spokesperson said.  

She was left traumatised and confided in a friend who reported it to police.

The force spokesperson said during his police interview, Brewster fully admitted the offence and claimed that he “fancied” the underage girl and “regretted” his behaviour.

But they said police later examined Brewster’s phone and found “numerous” indecent images – one of which was classified as a Category B illegal image of a child being sexually abused by an unknown man.

Young victim 'has suffered greatly' - police investigator

Police staff investigator Paul Thompson, from Scarborough and Ryedale CID, said: “The young victim in this case has suffered greatly and I hope she can now begin to rebuild her life.

“This case highlights the very real dangers associated with online child abuse and the normalisation of sharing sexually explicit images online which can lead to prosecutions.

“As for Brewster, he is now subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order with tight prohibitions. If he steps out of line it is likely his liberty will be taken away from him.”