A 20-year-old man appeared in court accused of encouraging children to send him naked pictures online.

William Evans, of Portland Place in Brent Knoll, appeared at North Somerset Courthouse charged with 19 counts of making an indecent picture of a child, and six counts of causing the sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 13.

Prosecutors alleged in court on Monday that Evans pretended to be female while using the social media picture site Instagram.

He is accused of asking boys aged 13 and under to send naked pictures of themselves, and then demanding more pictures, using the threat he would post the original pictures online if they did not send more.

Evans has not offered a plea in relation to any of the charges and will appear at Bristol Crown Court on June 16.