A SOCIALLY isolated teenager exchanged sexually explicit chat with younger women and girls over the internet, a court heard.

In some of his many web-cam chats, Nikki Aldridge urged the girls to touch themselves intimately and perform sex acts on themselves, including one in which he suggested she used a banana.

Durham Crown Court heard that he was met with a variety of responses, but it was not clear if any of the women and girls involved actually complied with his wishes.

Aldridge’s internet activities were brought to police attention by his own sister, who had concerns over his online sexual conversations.

Rupert Doswell, prosecuting, said she accessed his iPad and discovered some of his online requests.

Mr Doswell told the court that Aldridge said to one girl: “Prove to me I can trust you. Send me a naked picture”, to which he received the reply: “You’re starting to scare me, now.”

When confronted about this and other conversations, Aldridge claimed he could not remember them.

Mr Doswell said on further examination it was discovered Aldridge had taken part in hundreds, or thousands of sexual conversations, via Skype and other message forums.

Aldridge, then aged 17, now 19, admitted two counts of attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 15 to engage in sexual activity, and three of causing or inciting a girl aged 16 to perform a pornographic act.

Mr Doswell told the court: “I can’t confirm if they ever did those things suggested by him that they should do.

“In some of those cases he would have known he was speaking to girls under 16.”

Rebecca Suttle, mitigating, said: “It’s a very unusual case. He’s very young and for two years there has been no repetition, while attempts have been made to address his offending behaviour.

“The offences were predicated upon social isolation rather than a primary sexual motive.”

Miss Suttle said the offences were committed after Aldridge , who until recently was of Ponds Court, Consett, left his mother, in Wales, and came to live in the North-East with other family members.

But she said he has recently been living with his father in Norfolk, where he has found work and is keeping out of trouble.

Judge Hickey said the fact he was dealing with him for offences committed as a 17-year-old, when the defendant was said to have been, “immature and socially isolated”, had, “an enormous impact on the sentence I pass.”

He imposed a two-year community order, to include sexual offence prevention work with the Probation Service, while Aldridge must also perform 100-hours’ unpaid work.

The judge also made him subject of a ten year sexual harm prevention order, restricting his use of the internet and contact with girls under 16.