The first ‘cyberflasher’ is convicted under England’s new law and gets more than five years in prison

The court was told that Hawkes borrowed his father’s phone, saying he needed to call the probation office, went in another room and sent photos by WhatsApp to a woman and by iMessage to a 15-year-old girl, who began crying. — Image by freepik

LONDON: England’s first convicted cyberflasher was sentenced March 19 to five and a half years in prison after sending unsolicited photos of his private parts to a teenage girl and a woman.

Nicholas Hawkes, 39, a convicted sex offender, was the first person in England and Wales convicted of violating the Online Safety Act, which went into effect Jan 31.