A PAEDOPHILE lied about his age and had sex with underage girls, prompting Worcester's most senior judge to warn of the dangers of social media.

Nathan Stanley was jailed for four years at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday after he had full consensual sex with two underage girls, one of them 14 and the other aged 15, and tried to get a third to send him naked pictures of herself.

Sobs could be heard from the public gallery as the suited 22-year-old of Villiers Close, Bromsgrove, was taken down by prison officers in the dock.

The defendant was aged 18 and 19 years when the offences were carried out but he lied to all the girls, claiming he was 17 years old as he contacted them via Yubo and later using Snapchat.

He admitted sexual activity with a child on March 19, 2017 when he carried out the assault on a 15-year-old girl using his fingers.

Further sexual activity using his mouth followed against the same victim on March 20, 2017 and March 21, 2017, the day he also had full sex with her.

Stanley also admitted causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, this time against a second victim which took place between February 1, 2017 and March 31, 2017.

He had full sex with yet another underage girl (she was 14) at her home between February 1 and March 31, 2017. In total he admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard from Giles Nelson, prosecuting, who said Stanley gave 'no comment' interviews to the police and the girls had to attend an identity procedure as a result.

Mr Nelson described how Stanley said to one girl 'he wasn't a paedophile and there was nothing for her to worry about'. He referred to the offences as 'a protracted episode' involving a 'significant degree of planning' and 'grooming behaviour'.

Richard Hull, for Stanley, argued that 'a 19-year-old man is very different from a 22-year-old man who has had the weight of these proceedings hanging over him for three years'. He said his client was employed and his employers 'think highly of him'.

The Recorder of Worcester, Judge James Burbidge QC, said: "Your offending represents another sad case of the dangers of the use of social media by teenagers or children.

"For you decided to use social media to find teenage girls not because you were interested in forming an appropriate affectionate relationship or friendship with them but you were intent on pursuing a sexual relationship with any girl enticed by your overtures."

He told the defendant he 'immediately lied', asserting to the victims he was 17.

The IT technician also told one of the girls to 'sneak out of the family home to meet him' and when what he was doing was discovered he told one victim she should tell police she had told him she was 18 to get him 'out of trouble', ringing her 'in tears'.

Stanley also tried to persuade one girl to get into his car, messaging her for the next fortnight, asking her to send him naked pictures of herself.

He told her in one message: "Take your top off and let me see."

The defendant also tried to reassure her as he told her: "I'm not a paedophile."

Victim personal statements revealed that some of the victims had suffered anxiety and one was 'wary in relationships' as a result of what happened.

The judge said aggravating features included that some of the sexual assaults happened in a secluded location and that he had lied about his age.

The judge jailed Stanley for four years and made him the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for eight years which restricts his use of the internet and his contact with children.