A man who sent indecent images of himself to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl has avoided jail.

Adam O’Sullivan used messaging service Kik to speak to them, but was in fact talking with an investigating police officer during May 2016.

The 28-year-old, who was living in Weybridge at the time, knew the user was underage but still asked for indecent images of her and also proposed to meet up.

Police also found he was a member of various online group chats where users shared indecent videos and images of children.

O’Sullivan, of Hunter Road in Crawley, was charged with attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity alongside three counts of making indecent images last July.

After initially denying all of the charges against him at Guildford Crown Court, he changed his plea to guilty just before a trial in February.

It was on March 18 that he was sentenced to just over five months in custody, suspended for 18 months, and handed a seven-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

O’Sullivan is also prevented from having contact with young people and been restricted in his computer and internet use following the sentencing.

Detective Constable Rene Murdoch said: “Thankfully O’Sullivan was talking to the police instead of an innocent child and no one was hurt.

“Due to our undercover work we were able to identify an offender, and he will now be prevented from having contact with young persons and restrictions in place around his use of computers and the internet.

“We work tirelessly in Surrey to keep people safe from sexual offenders who pose a risk to children. Some of this work isn’t always visible but rest assured it goes on.”