A man who sexually assaulted a young boy and exchanged "sickening" explicit messages with children from across the world has been jailed.

Reece Green sexually assaulted the boy on at least three occasions before taking photographs of him in a state of undress, Nottinghamshire Police said.

The 22-year-old was arrested after police received intelligence that an indecent video of a child had been uploaded to the internet from an address in Worksop, the force said.

On Tuesday, Green, formerly of Worksop, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to six years and eight months in prison, followed by a four-year extended licence period.

Police said Green was 20 when he was initially arrested in November 2022.

Detectives seized four mobile phones and discovered indecent images of children as well as images classed as extreme pornography.

Further examination of the devices found Green had been engaging in sexual communication with teenage boys via social media platforms – and that he had paid some of the children to send him explicit images.

In one conversation, Green described himself as "dangerous" while in another he admitted sexually abusing a young boy, the force said.

Green was charged with multiple offences and was on crown court bail awaiting his next hearing when police said they received further intelligence suggesting he was continuing to commit offences.

He was arrested again on 28 August 2024 with detectives seizing another iPhone and discovering further indecent images of children along with sexualised chats with a 13-year-old boy from the US.

'Appalling' offences

As well as taking some indecent photos himself, police said their investigation found Green had sent tens of thousands of sexualised messages to 10 young teenagers – aged between 13 to 16 – who he had met on social media.

His victims lived in countries including the US, Canada, Argentina, Northern Ireland and Wales and in some cases Green incited them to engage in sexual activity, the force added.

Green pleaded guilty to more than 20 charges and in addition to his custodial sentence was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Det Con Sarah Clarke said: "By his own admission, Green is a dangerous individual who sexually assaulted a young boy before plying many others with sexualised messages and indecent images in order to fulfil his own sexual desires.

"He was well aware that his victims were underage and that what he was doing was wrong, but despite this he continued with his appalling offending."

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