A man who gave a young girl wine, asked her to take her clothes off and took pictures of her has been jailed.

Neil Schooley, 55, asked another girl, who was under ten, to undress and pose for photographs. On a different occasion he exposed himself to her. The incidents happened two days apart.

After an investigation was launched, it transpired that Schooley had also taken photos of another girl who he gave wine to.

The pictures were all taken between 2016 and 2018 when one of the girls was under ten and the other was between ten and 13 years old.

Sussex Police Detective Constable Joe Murray said: “Neil Schooley betrayed the trust of his young victims and their families for his own sexual gratification.

“The seriousness of these offences and the harm they have caused was recognised by this sentence, which was the maximum available for these crimes.

“I would like to thank both of these two brave girls for reporting the incidents, supporting our investigation and helping to bring Schooley to justice.”

Following the police investigation, Schooley was arrested and charged with three counts of taking indecent images of a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child.

Schooley, of Woburn Place in Brighton, was found guilty by a jury at Hove Crown Court after denying the offences.

At a sentencing hearing on August 31 he was handed the maximum sentence of eight years in prison and was placed on the Sex Offenders’ register.