Sending obscene messages and pornographic videos to undercover investigators who were purporting to be young children online.

Harrogate Man Jailed for Sending Explicit Images to Undercover Investigator

A Harrogate man has been jailed after sending explicit sexual images to someone he thought was a 12-year-old child. Jason Carl Veal, 33, of Harewood Road, believed he was communicating with a 12-year-old girl on a social media platform, but he was actually talking to an undercover investigator.

In January 2023, Veal sent a friend request to the girl via Snapchat and began sending explicit sexual videos of adults performing sex acts on themselves. He also encouraged the girl to engage in similar activities, at one point suggesting she use the school toilets for this purpose.

Veal was arrested by officers a few weeks later and charged with the following offenses to which he pleaded guilty:

• [List the specific offenses here]

He appeared at York Crown Court on Friday, 1 March, where he was jailed for 30 months.

The court also ordered him to register with the police for an indefinite period and issued him with a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Constable Kirsty Sullivan, from the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: "Irrespective of who he was really talking to, he clearly believed he was communicating with a 12-year-old and that is of great concern to us. The language he used was disgusting and the images repulsive. The Online Child Abuse Investigation Team works proactively and sometimes covertly to identify those who pose a risk to children."