Shropshire boy, 17, trawled Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram to find young girls
A 17-year-old boy "trawled" social media to find girls he then tried to persuade to engage in sexual activity, a court heard.
The teenager, from Newport, contacted them over Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, sending them indecent pictures and asking them if they would have sex with him, Telford Magistrates Court was told.
He messaged about half a dozen girls from across the country – the youngest of which was just 12.
Ms Amanda Tomkins, prosecuting, said the mother of the 12-year-old saw messages sent between the pair in which he talked about wanting to have sex with her, despite knowing her age.
She said he asked a 15-year-old from Southport if she was still a virgin and made sexual comments over WhatsApp.
He first made contact with a 14-year-old girl from Derbyshire over Instagram and got her to send him pictures of herself.
The court heard that he had asked another 14-year-old girl if she had ever had sex and the pair exchanged intimate pictures of themselves.
He also asked to meet her, Ms Tomkins said.
In a message to another 15-year-old girl, from London, he said he wanted to have sex with her.
Ms Tomkins said he would have had an idea how old she was as she made reference in one of her messages to having school tomorrow.
She told the court: "The victims are all around the country.
"The suggestion is that (the teenager) is trawling social media to find victims.
"There's been clear attempts to meet up with some of the victims."
She said none of the offences resulted in direct sexual contact taking place with the victims.
Ms Tomkins said the teenager had made admissions about what he had done to police in his final interview.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to six counts of inciting girls under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity between January and June this year.
He also admitted breaching a restraining order by meeting up with a girl under the age of 14 in March this year, which he was prohibited from doing.
The court heard that Birmingham Youth Court imposed the restraining order in 2014, after he was convicted of sexual assault involving a child.
He appeared in court and was represented by Mr John McMillan.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
The accused is expected to be sentenced at Telford Magistrates Court on December 5.
He was released on conditional bail until the next hearing.
