A MAN using the alias Harry Potter targeted young girls on the internet and tried to persuade them to take part in indecent acts, Worcester Crown Court was told.

David Edwards, aged 23, of Stourport Road, Great Witley, near Worcester, not only groomed them but threatened to distribute revealing pictures of themselves if they did not co-operate.

He was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to 13 charges including incitement to engage in sexual activity and causing them to watch a sexual act.

Michael Conry, prosecuting, said the victims were girls aged 13 to 15 in offences which happened in three years from 2009 to 2012. Edwards already had a conviction for possessing indecent images when he began contacting the girls.

His first approach was friendly but it became more sexual when they were using a web-cam. He persuaded them to send naked and intimate pictures of themselves and threatened to send them to other people if they did not co-operate.

Stephen Parker, mitigating, said Edwards had a troubled upbringing after his mother died in a road crash when he was one. For years he was in children's homes or being fostered and this made it difficult for him to communicate with other people.

He had also been sexually abused and was a victim of rape on one occasion. This had a marked impact on his behaviour, especially after a friend killed himself at the age of 18.

Judge Richard Rundell said Edwards had corrupted the young girls with help of two-way web-cams. It was distressing for their families when they found what had been going on. He imposed a sex offences prevention order and ordered Edwards to register indefinitely as a sex offender.