Locations
Worston Close, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5
Description
A man who took indecent images of an unknowing teenage girl has been sentenced by a court.
Liam Bryan (pictured) zoomed in on intimate areas of the girl’s body and had videos and still images on his phone.
He knew the girl and the images were taken in a social setting without her being aware she was being filmed and photographed.
Our investigation began in July last year after Bryan had posted sexual remarks on a Reddit account.
Officers arrested Bryan in Accrington on September 18th and seized his phone.
When the phone was examined, the images of the girl were found.
The images were close-ups of different parts of her body when she was wearing jeans and a vest top.
When officers told the girl about the images found on Bryan’s phone, she was horrified.
Bryan, 26, of Worston Close, Accrington, appeared before Blackburn Magistrates Court this week (August 11th) after pleading guilty to making indecent images of a child.
He was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years, was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years, made subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order and given a lifetime restraining order regarding his victim.
Bryan was also given an alcohol abstinence order for 60 days.
In a Victim Personal Statement read to the court, the girl said:
“Once the police went through Liam's phone, they later came to tell me Liam had actually taken photographs of me when I was not looking and focused on my bum and chest area, I felt really upset and embarrassed.
“After this day I started to process what Liam had done and as time went on my mental health took a toll.
“I didn't want to leave my bedroom for weeks. I didn't want to talk to anyone or be involved in family activities. I didn't want to be seen in public. I thought everyone was talking about me. The area where I live is a small community news travels fast.”
Detective Constable Beth Turner of the Internet Child Exploitation Team, said: “Liam Bryan’s actions caused a huge amount of distress for his teenage victim.
“Unknown to her, he had taken the indecent images, and it was such a shock to her when she learned what had happened.
“She is a teenage girl who is entitled to go about her life feeling safe and not have someone taking images which she had no idea about at the time.”