A MAN who threatened a 12-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity and sexually assaulted a two-year-old boy has been put behind bars for six years and 11 months according to police.

Police say Wenxiong Jiang, 26, was also made subject to a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the Register of Sex Offenders indefinitely.

Read more: Darlington MP says he's 'appalled' at Christmas party after Boris Johnson makes statement

Jiang was also convicted of three counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Detective Constable Rebecca Townsend of Harrogate CID said Jiang is “clearly a very disturbed individual” after he was also convicted of taking an indecent image of a child.

Other convictions consisted of five counts of making an indecent image of a child, possessing an extreme pornographic image involving an animal and possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Detective Constable Townsend reportedly led the investigation into Jiang’s offending following his arrest on December 15 last year.

Police say the inquiry uncovered that he had added a 12-year-old girl on snapchat and engaged her in conversations while he was posing as a 15-year-old boy.

Jiang pressured and then eventually threatened the girl to send him naked pictures of herself engaging in penetrative sexual activity.

Read more: Experienced and highly skilled NHS staff being driven out of jobs after abuse

When he was arrested, officers recovered 250,000 images from his devices including a video of himself sexually assaulting a two-year-old boy.

Detective Townsend said Jiang was a “perverted individual who poses a danger to children.”

She said: “He has rightfully been brought to justice and is now facing the full consequences of his depravity with a significant prison sentence.

“As a registered sex offender, he is subject to robust public protection measures for the rest of his life.

“He will also have to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order lasting 20 years which is designed to severely limit his ability to reoffend in the future.”

Read more: Farmer talks of losing hundreds after being forced to use generator after Storm Arwen

-----

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054