Sheffield man jailed after sending indecent images to officers

A scientist from Sheffield who sent indecent images of himself to officers has been jailed for three years.

Paul Bower sent the image to National Crime Agency officers who he believed were two 13-year-old girls.

The 32-year-old was jailed after pleading guilty to a number of offences and was told he'd be on the sex offenders register for life.

Bower, who worked in a hospital, was seized as part of an NCA sting in October 2019.

After his arrest, devices containing nearly 350 indecent images were seized.

Neil Baxter, Operations manager at the National Crime Agency, said: “Sexual predators like Bower prey on vulnerable young children and abuse them for their own sick gratification."

“Offenders often hide behind online profiles in an attempt to mask their identities. As we have seen with this case, these people are not protected."

“Identifying and disrupting individuals with a sexual interest in children is an absolute priority for the NCA."

“This time, we know it was our officers Bower was speaking to, but next time could have been a different story. He also had a significant collection of indecent images of children on his devices."

“The amount of distress and trauma this abuse can cause young people is immeasurable. It is only right that Bower is jailed for his crimes where he no longer poses a risk to children.”

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.