The first person in the UK has been convicted of cyber-flashing after sending unsolicited illicit photos of himself to a young girl and a woman.

Nicholas Hawkes, 39, a registered sex offender from Basildon, Essex, will serve 66 weeks in prison.

The images sent to the woman were screenshotted on February 9th and reported to the police the same day, with Hawkes admitting to two charges of the new offence – sending a photograph or film of genitals to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation – at Southend High Court.

Cyber-flashing typically involves offenders sending an unsolicited sexual image to people via social media or dating apps, but can also be over data sharing services such as Bluetooth and Airdrop. In some instances, a preview of the photo can appear on a person’s device – meaning that even if the transfer is rejected victims are forced into seeing the image.

Research by Professor Jessica Ringrose from 2020 found that 76% of girls aged 12-18 had been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men.

Ministers confirmed in March 2022 that laws banning this behaviour will be included in the Government’s Online Safety Bill.

The new offence will ensure cyber-flashing is captured clearly by the criminal law – giving the police and Crown Prosecution Service greater ability to bring more perpetrators to justice. It follows similar action to criminalise upskirting and breastfeeding voyeurism in a  bid to protect people, particularly women and girls, from these emerging crimes.

The law means that anyone who sends a photo or film of a person’s genitals, for the purpose of their own sexual gratification or to cause the victim humiliation, alarm or distress may face up to two years in prison.

It follows a Law Commission review Modernising Communications Offences which recommended that a new offence should be created.

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Alongside the new cyber-flashing offence, the Online Safety Gill also seeks to tackle a wide range of harmful private and public online communication. These include sending abusive emails, social media posts and WhatsApp messages, as well as ‘pile-on’ harassment where many people target abuse at an individual such as in website comment sections.

The Online Safety Bill will also put more legal responsibility on social media platforms, search engines and other websites or apps which host user-generated content to tackle a range of illegal and harmful content on their services.