A FACEBOOK paedophile who targeted underage girls with photos of his penis was labelled "a hazard and a menace" by the judge jailing him for five years.

Janis Snaeders, 31, sent the young people images of a child he had abused along with the graphic "selfie", Bradford Crown Court heard.

Snaeders, then of Legrams Lane, Lidget Green, Bradford, was yesterday convicted of eight sexual offences, including sexual activity with a child, taking indecent photos of a child, four charges of causing a child to watch a sexual act and possession of 100 indecent photos of young girls.

Prosecutor Michael Smith told the jury during the trial that Snaeders contacted children in South Yorkshire in 2014 by messaging them on Facebook.

He sent four girls, aged 13 to 15, photos of the naked breast of a girl he had photographed while she was asleep. The communications included an indecent photograph of himself and boasts about his abuse of the child.

Mr Smith said the messages were completely unsolicited by Snaeders' victims.

He was tracked by the police to the Bradford address and his phone and computer seized.

Snaeders' phone contained images of a young girl sleeping, with her clothing moved to expose her naked breast.

Mr Smith said they were "strikingly similar" to the photos sent to the girls in South Yorkshire by Facebook message.

The police also discovered indecent images of young girls stored into folders on Snaeders' computer.

Snaeders, who moved from Bradford to Pinderfields Road, Wakefield, denied that he was responsible for taking the photos, sending the Facebook messages and hoarding the indecent images.

He claimed he had obtained the computer recently and that someone else was the guilty party.

Mr Smith told the jury there was no doubt that whoever had contacted the children on Facebook had broken the law, it was a question of who was responsible.

Judge David Hatton QC said Snaeders had been convicted by the jury on overwhelming evidence.

"You clearly have an unhealthy interest in prepubescent girls. You are a menace and a hazard to them and they require some protection from you," he said.

Judge Hatton said Snaeders had touched the girl indecently while photographing her and then boasted about it in Skype communications with children.

He had sent the photos of himself to the girls for his own sexual gratification.

"Why on earth you believed they would be remotely interested in seeing your penis, I have no idea," Judge Hatton said.

Snaeders must sign on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, also without limit of time, prevents him from having contact with children.