A MUSICIAN who befriended young girls on social media has been jailed for abusing four of them.

Over a 14-month period Shane Fielding, who was lead singer with the alternative hardcore band The Aspekt, incited girls as young as 13 to send him intimate photographs of themselves, groomed them and had sex with one 14-year-old.

David Lees, prosecuting, told how 21-year-old Fielding’s offending first came to light after a 13-year-old victim’s father came across sexually explicit messages between the band member and his daughter in her iPad.

The court heard that the girl, a fan of the band, had first contacted Fielding via Twitter and their communications moved to Facebook, private messaging and using Snapchat and Instagram.

Mr Lees said that between July and October, 2014 the messages became increasingly sexual and Fielding repeatedly told her she was beautiful and he loved her.

At one point the girl tried to break off the contact.

“She felt he would go off her when he found fame,” said Mr Lees.

The pair were messaging each other up to 30 times a day and discussed meeting up to have sex.

When the girl mentioned her age he persuaded her that it would not be rape if she consented to sex, alleging he knew this because he had a GCSE in Law.

A meeting took place, but contact only went as far as hugging and kissing and when the girl’s father complained to police Fielding was arrested.

Fielding, of Cheriton Drive, Breightmet, pleaded guilty to meeting a child following sexual grooming.

The singer met a second girl, aged 14, through friends in August, 2014 and added her as a friend on Facebook, initially telling her he was aged 17, when he was 19 at the time.

Then, two months later, the pair went bowling and, back at his house, had sex.

“She seemed to think they were in a relationship,” said Mr Lees.

Fielding pleaded guilty to penetrative sexual activity with a child.

The court heard that between August and November, 2015 he was also involved with another 14-year-old girl after being introduced at a party.

The girl and Fielding exchanged messages and he sent her a picture of his penis, asking her to send him photographs of her breasts.

Mr Lees said the girl later told police she had felt “belittled and scared” by the experience.

After his arrest Fielding pleaded guilty to causing and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He admitted further charges of inciting sexual activity and sexual activity with a child in relation to a 15-year-old girl whom he began messaging in May, 2015 on Facebook. He sent her a picture of his penis and she sent him photographs of her breasts.

Then, in September last year, they met in Bolton town centre and he put her hand down his trousers before she pulled away and went home.

Nicola Gatto, defending, said Fielding had been bullied in the sixth form at his school which led to him playing truant and suffering from depression.

“He became reclusive and isolated,” she said.

“He spent hours and hours alone in his bedroom.”

She added that he had become involved in a band with a couple of friends and they had played at the Manchester Academy.

But she stressed that he had not made significant money from his music and he had exaggerated his success to his victims.

“At one stage he told how he was number 12 in the iTunes chart, which would have him on a par with One Direction, and that’s clearly not the case,” said Miss Gatto.

She added that Fielding has a low IQ and is immature, finding it easier to relate to people younger than himself.

She stressed that, from seeing the messages between the victims and Fielding “a number of these girls can be described, on occasion, as somewhat sexually precocious”.

And she pointed out that Fielding had not been searching the internet for children to groom.

Sentencing Fielding to 38 months in prison, Judge Graeme Smith told him that the offences are particularly serious because he knew the age of the girls, he had lied about his own age to more than one of his victims, there were four victims and he continued offending even after he was bailed for the first offence.

“I do not, and you should not, underestimate the effect on them (the victims) in the long term,” said the judge.

In addition to the jail sentence, Fielding was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.