A man who shared explicit images of a woman without her consent, including when she was a child, has been sentenced. 

Lewis Simpson, 26, of Hertford Way in Gorleston, was arrested after sending the photographs to the family of his victim, making her feel suicidal and depressed.

Some of the messages contained explicit ‘selfie’ images taken when she was an adult but others had been taken when she was under the age of 16. 

They were sent alongside offensive text messages and police connected the devices and images to Simpson after detecting his location when a Facebook account was set up to send some of the images which Simpson alone had access to.

After being charged, he pleaded guilty to distributing an indecent photograph of a child and disclosing a sexual photograph or film with intent to cause distress between November 13 2020 and January 22 2021.

At his sentencing in Norwich Crown Court on May 21, he was given a 12-month court order, required to undertake a relationship-building course, fined £100 and placed on the Sex Offender’s Register for five years. 

In court, Simpson's victim said that the images being sent had caused shame and an impact on her family relationships, making her feel suicidal and depressed.

PC Dave Moran said:  “These types of cases can have a real impact on the victim and be incredibly harmful.

"We will pursue these kinds of offences in order to make sure there is some kind of justice done on behalf of the victim who was brave to come forward.”