Caught with Their Pixels Down: First Person Convicted of Cyber Flashing

Last week Nicholas Hawkes become the first person to be convicted for the new offence of "Cyber Flashing". Hawkes sent unsolicited photos of his erect penis to a 15-year-old girl and a woman.

The woman took screenshots of the image on WhatsApp and reported Hawkes to Essex Police the same day.

Sefer Mani, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the East of England, said:

"Cyber-flashing is a grotesque crime and the fact we were able to deliver swift justice for the two victims shows the new law is working.

Everyone should feel safe wherever they are and not be subjected to receiving unwanted sexual images.

I urge anyone who feels they have been a victim of cyber-flashing to report it to the police and know that they will be taken seriously and have their identities protected."

This offence came in to force on 31 January 2024 and was created by the Online Security Act 2023. The Act inserts a new provision into the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (s 66A, an offence known formally as 'Sending etc photograph or film of genitals').

How is the offence committed?

A person (A) who intentionally sends or gives a photograph or film of any person's genitals to another person (B) commits an offence if:

(a) A intends that B will see the genitals and be caused alarm, distress or humiliation, or

(b) A sends or gives such a photograph or film for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification and is reckless as to whether B will be caused alarm, distress or humiliation.

References to sending or giving such a photograph or film to another person include, in particular:

(a) sending it to another person by any means, electronically or otherwise,

(b) showing it to another person, and

(c) placing it for a particular person to find.

What is the sentence for this offence?

This offence carries a maximum penalty of up to 2 years imprisonment. A conviction also means that the notification requirements under the SOA 2003 also apply, depending on sentence length (commonly referred to as the Sex Offender Register).

This offence is one of a number enacted by the Online Safety Act 2023.