A MAN who abducted and sexually assaulted two schoolboys during a trip to their local park has been convicted of 26 sex offences against children.

Angus Bowman, 39, lured the youngsters, aged six and eight, to a secluded area in Easington Colliery, County Durham, where he subjected them to a sex ordeal and produced naked pictures of children.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, relatives of Bowman's victims whooped with joy as the jury's guilty verdict was announced.

Bowman was warned he faced a considerable sentence behind bars to protect the public.

Penny Moreland, prosecuting, said Bowman struck when the boys were playing in the park on April 4. He engaged them in lewd conversation, then sexually assaulted them.

On July 15 last year, in Killingworth, he exposed himself to girls aged eight and six who were playing in the street.

A jury reached unanimous guilty verdicts on two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, six of possessing indecent photos of children, 14 of taking indecent photos of children, two counts of abducting a child, and two of sexual assault on a child aged under 13.

Bowman, of Moresby Road, Cramlington, Northumberland, had denied the charges.

Adjourning sentence until October 20, for reports, Judge Richard Lowden said he intended to jail Bowman for a considerable period of time.