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Andy Jackson/Stuff
A man who asked a teen to send him pictures of her body over Snapchat has been sentenced to home detention. (File photo)
A Taranaki man who asked a 13-year-old girl to send photographs of her body to him over Snapchat will spend the next eight years as a registered child sex offender.
Steven Barry Gear previously pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent communication with a young person under 16.
During a previous appearance in the New Plymouth District Court, Judge Gregory Hikaka asked for a specialist risk-assessment report to be prepared on Gear regarding the need for registration.
In March last year, Gear started to message his victim over Snapchat.
Jonas Leupe/Supplied
The offending took place during Snapchat messages between the offender and his teen victim. (File photo)
During their contact, he asked her to send photos of her body to him.
When the teen told him she was 13, Gear told her she didn’t need to show her face in the pictures, and no-one needed to know she’d sent them.
However, the teen refused and then showed her mother the messages Gear had sent to her, prompting police involvement.
Last week, Judge Gregory Hikaka sentenced Gear to five months’ home detention and made an order placing him on the child sex offender register for eight years.
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