A 22-year-old man has been jailed for two years after admitting trying to incite young girls to take part in sexual activities.

Oliver Richard Lee, of Newnham Green, Gorleston, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court today (Wednesday 9 November) by Judge Bates.

Lee was jailed after admitting two counts of ’attempting to cause/incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity’ and one count of ‘making indecent images’.

Lee was arrested by officers from Norfolk Constabulary’s Safeguarding Children Online Team (SCOLT) following a warrant at his address in June 2015.

A number of items of electronic equipment were seized, including mobile phones and a Lenovo laptop.

Following forensic examination a number of chat-logs between Lee and four people he believed to be underage girls, were discovered. The logs revealed Lee asking them to provide naked pictures and to perform various other sex acts.

Lee was charged by SCOLT officers on 11 May 2016.

Detective Constable Nicky Gaughan, of the SCOLT, said: “We hope such a case sends a strong message out to such offenders that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images or grooming children. They leave a digital footprint and we will find it.”

Norfolk Constabulary set up the Safeguarding Children Online Team (SCOLT) in June 2014 in a bid to investigate on-line grooming and possession and distribution of illegal images.

The team aim to identify victims who are being or have been abused and work with agencies to put safeguarding measures in place.

The SCOLT executes its own warrants generated from intelligence, including referrals from Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) – part of the National Crime Agency (NCA) – information from other forces and members of the public.

Lee was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.