A TERRITORIAL Army instructor has been banned from working with children for life as a result of suggestive text messages sent to female cadets.

Steven Watts, 41, blighted his 23-year Army career and his previously unblemished character by sending inappropriate messages to teenage girls as young as 13 under his charge at a TA centre in County Durham.

The colour sergeant, who urged one girl to send him topless photographs of herself, yesterday received a suspended jail sentence for what a judge described as a breach of trust.

He is now banned from working with children for life and is on the sex offenders' register for ten years.

Durham Crown Court heard that his downfall came when the father of one of the girls discovered a text message sent by Watts to his daughter's mobile phone.

The concerned parent contacted the father of another of the girls, and it led to police being informed.

Anne Richardson, prosecuting, said Watts was immediately suspended pending an investigation.

Watts promised one girl extra tuition if she supplied a topless photograph on her mobile phone.

Miss Richardson said that when she refused, he gave her extra duties and his attitude towards her changed.

She also told the court that Watts suggested that, as a forfeit for failing to complete a task he had set one of the girls, she should allow him to kiss one of her breasts.

Watts, of Sacriston Close, Billingham, near Stockton, who has no previous convictions, admitted three offences of causing or inciting a girl under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

He was given a one-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, during which he will be supervised by the probation service.

Judge Beatrice Bolton told him: "The aggravating aspect of this case is the breach of trust.

"You picked on these girls when you knew you had power over them."

Earlier this year, an Army cadet instructor in County Durham was jailed for two years after he admitted having sex with two 15-year-old girls in his charge.

The 27-year-old, who admitted four counts of sexual activity with a child, lost his job with the cadet force and was placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years.