A DEAF man has been jailed for seven years after he lured boys from as far as America to commit sex offences on camera by pretending to be a teenage girl on Facebook.

Wayne Adams, 39, posed as a 14-year-old girl in two separate profiles on the social network to snare his victims.

He chatted to them only by text and persuaded them to perform sex acts which he watched on Skype - sometimes secretly snapping pictures of them to add to his collection of indecent images.

Leeds Crown Court heard his offending came to light through teachers in Scotland who alerted police after discovering what had been happening to two ten-year-old boys.

That led to Adams' true identity being traced and further inquiries discovered another of his victims in Iowa.

Michael Smith, prosecuting, said police informed Homeland Security in the United States who contacted that 14-year-old boy and his parents.

Adams' contact with him had begun in May 2012 and involved 23 text conversations when he persuaded the teenager to remove his boxer shorts and perform various acts on camera.

Officers also found eight conversations with another boy in America, believed to be 14 or 15, asking him to perform similar acts.

Judge Sally Cahill QC said he had used the profiles to contact young males. "You deliberately set out to incite these children into activity which was completely inappropriate for them. As they grow older realising what they have done may have a substantial impact on them."

In interview, Adams said it was “like having bulimia, once it started it was difficult to stop.”

More than 600 indecent images were found on his laptop and memory sticks, which included 13 at level one, five at level two and one at level four of his four victims - on a scale of seriousness from one to five.

Ken Green representing Adams said his client had limited hearing ability if a voice was very clear and there was no interference, but could not understand the boys when they tried to speak to him and had only communicated by text.

He had never been in trouble before but had suffered depression following the death of his mother and problems about his sexuality and forming sexual relationships, principally because of his hearing impairment.

Mr Green said Adams had no intention of distributing the images and prison would be difficult with his disability and the nature of the offences.

Adams, of Wibsey Park Avenue, Bradford admitted eight charges of inciting a child to sexual activity and 11 charges of making or having indecent images.