A MAN ‘became besotted’ with a schoolboy and paid him up to £600 to send naked pictures over social media, a court heard.

The trial of Arron Lyons, 33, of Forgeway, Banbury, began at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Lyons befriended the boy when he was 12 years old at a BMX park and lent him money over several months, helping to pay for food and alcohol, jurors were told.

He then offered to pay him for sexually explicit photos, the prosecution alleges.

Indecent images and videos of children were found on Lyons’ phone and laptop after he was arrested in April 2016.

Lyons is also accused of persistently asking to perform oral sex on the boy who was under the age of 16 at the time.

The court heard how Lyons took screenshots of the images from Snapchat and then threatened to upload them onto Facebook after his victim got a girlfriend.

He initially paid £40 per picture before eventually paying up to £600 with payments made by cash and bank transfer, it is alleged.

Edward Culver, the prosecution barrister, told the jury how Lyons knew the boy was underage and that it was ‘utterly false’ to suggest that any other person was responsible.

The defendant’s interest in young boys ‘drove his criminal conduct’, according to Mr Culver.

Lyons denies one count of causing child pornography, one count of causing sexual exploitation of a child, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of making indecent photographs of children.

The trial continues.