A former trainee teacher and scout leader from Brentwood has pleaded guilty to engaging three teenage boys in sexual conversations on social networking sites.

Christopher Pimm, 24, is due to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty to five offences.

He was arrested at his home in Great Fox Meadow, Kelvedon Hatch, in November 2011 and was charged in August 2012 for two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of causing to watch a sexual act and two counts of making indecent images and movies of children. All offences happened in 2011.

The victims were three boys from Ilford, Brentwood and Basildon and aged in their early teens.

The police investigation began in October 2011 after concerns about the level of contact Pimm had with the victims through social networking sites.

He added the boys as friends on Facebook and then engaged in sexually-explicit conversations with them before sending them pornographic links.

During the police raid on his home, officers seized his computer, which was found to hold a quantity of indecent images and movies of children.

Pimm appeared at Basildon Crown Court on September 27 and pleaded guilty to the five offences.

He is due to be sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Monday, October 29.