A MAN has been jailed for almost three years for carrying out a sexual assault on a teenage girl.

Liam Bacon, 31, of Micklemoss Drive, Queensbury, pleaded guilty to touching the girl’s naked breasts and buttocks after persuading her to get into his bed.

She later fled the scene.

Sentencing him at Bradford Crown Court Her Honour Judge Kirstie Watson said Bacon had exploited her by pressuring her to send him naked photographs of herself.

Bacon was locked up for a total of 34 months and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Prosecutor Gareth Handerson-Moore told the court how Bacon had invited the girl to earn some money by doing modelling in the woods wearing a bikini, which she refused to do describing the request as “weird”.

He later began messaging her, pestering her to send him photographs of herself, offering to pay £15 for pictures of her naked buttocks, £30 if she was wearing underwear, and £35 if the underwear was “dripping wet”.

The victim again refused for around six weeks, but he began to threaten her. He asked: “Is it scary being a girl?” The victim replied: “Yeah, we get taken advantage of.”

Bacon responded: “That’s what I’m here to do.”

The girl was scared by his comment and perceived it to be a threat. The next day she sent him seven pictures of herself for which he paid £35 into a bank account he had encouraged her to sign up to.

Three weeks later he demanded more pictures. After initially saying no, the victim sent photographs of herself in her underwear. Bacon paid her £15.

Mr Henderson-Moore said: “He kept asking her for indecent photographs, and she said no. She stood her ground. She’d had enough. He said he would strike a deal with her and told her to bring him some knickers that she had been wearing all day.

“She did so and left the knickers in the bathroom for him. He transferred £30 into her bank account.”

The victim eventually told a member of her family what was happening, who informed the police.

Bacon was arrested and two phones and a laptop were seized. The phones were found to contain 49 Category C indecent images of underage children including one picture that was positively identified as being the victim.

Female underwear was found in a holdall in a cupboard at Bacon’s home.

During a police interview, he denied the allegations against him. He pleaded guilty on the first day of a trial to sexual assault and being in possession of a prohibited images of a child.

In a statement, the victim said she suffered suicidal thoughts and night terrors over the episode as well as anxiety, and that her memory was “racing at 100mph”, which affected her ability to eat.

She also said she had had problems leaving her home because of what had happened.

The court heard that Bacon had previous convictions for assault, battery, criminal damage, and failing to comply with a community order.

Mitigating, Abdul Shakoor said Bacon had suffered emotional abuse at times from his father and that the issues were unresolved. He was on a waiting list for counselling.

He said Bacon had also suffered from suicidal thoughts and his own mental health issues.

Judge Watson ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the mobile phones that were seized.

Detective Sergeant Samantha Swift of Bradford’s Child Safeguarding Team said: “We welcome the sentence handed down to Bacon today. His admission of guilt spared the victim from having to sit through a trial.  

“Bradford Safeguarding Team take all reports of sexual offending seriously and it will be treated in confidence. 

“I would like to praise the victim’s bravery throughout the investigation. I hope today can give her justice knowing that Bacon is now behind bars.”