A MAN who sent sexual messages and pictures to a schoolgirl has been jailed for 17 months.
Hasan Farooq will also have to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.
Bradford Crown Court heard how Farooq, now 24, befriended the girl on X using the pseudonym Kai in February 2022.
He told her he was in his early 20s and living in the Birmingham area. She told him she was under 16.
A download of the victim’s phone revealed thousands of messages between them including voice notes sexual in nature.
Prosecutor Kathryn Pitters said: “In both messages and voice notes he made sexual references and discussed sexual acts he wanted to perform with the victim.”
Farooq and the victim exchanged photographs. He sent her images of a male with his penis exposed. She sent him a photo of a female wearing underwear and, said Miss Pitters, “he indicated that he was going to masturbate over it.”
His behaviour came to light when the girl’s mother became concerned that she was secretive and depressed.
She was spoken to about grooming, but said there was nothing going on.
Messaging between the two continued even after the victim’s phone was seen by police but now the communication was under Farooq’s own name rather than an alias.
Farooq, of Holker Street, Keighley, was arrested in June 2023 and a number of phones were seized.
In an interview he admitted messaging the girl but denied a sexual interest in children.
He also suggested she had manipulated him.
The victim, in a statement, said Farooq’s behaviour made her anxious and caused her to self-harm.
The court heard that Farooq had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communications with a child in advance of a trial.
In mitigation, the court heard Farooq was candid with the police about his behaviour and had acknowledged that what he did was wrong.
He was described as “an unimpressive young man” who had since matured and was working to address his offending behaviour.
Sentencing Farooq, His Honour Judge Ahmed Nadim said: “I find it concerning the suggestion that the responsibility for what occurred can be shifted onto the complainant.
"The responsibility lies solely with the adult."
He jailed Farooq for 17 months, ordered him to register as a sex offender for 10 years, and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period.
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