Jay Patterson, 25, walked free from Wollongong District Court on Friday morning after a 12-person jury took less than two hours to find him not guilty of a single charge of using a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to a person under 16 years.

Patterson did not comment when approached by media representatives outside the courthouse other than to say “it’s good to be back” when asked how he felt about the result. His solicitor James Howell also declined to speak on Patterson’s behalf.

The Crown had alleged Patterson sent pictures of his penis to the teen and videos of himself masturbating in late night conversations after they became friends on Snapchat in July 2016.

Patterson admitted sending the girl images of his naked chest and abdomen as part of a group message sent to several of his Snapchat contacts, but denied he had sent her any pictures or videos of his genitals.

Jurors were played videos of the girl’s two police interviews, in which she claimed Patterson’s “flirty” behaviour towards her on social media quickly escalated to him making intimate remarks about her body and the pair exchanging shirtless pictures.

She alleged about a week later Patterson sent her a photo of his exposed genitals, however when asked if she could describe the picture further, she replied “not really”.

Patterson also gave evidence in the trial, saying he used Snapchat at the time to ease his severe loneliness and was seeking attention.

“I was so lonely at the time; I had no friends so I was sending Snapchats to people daily just to communicate, to speak to people,” he said.

“Was it your habit to send torso images to people you didn’t know?” Crown prosecutor Michelle England asked Patterson.

“Yes at the time because I had no friends,” he responded.​

He claimed a fellow student had added the girl to his list of contacts, many of whom were strangers to him, and that he didn’t know who she was or that she was underage.

He repeatedly denied he had ever sent explicit images via the social media app and said a series of text messages sent between him and his then-girlfriend, in which he repeatedly said he was a “f—kwit” who had “f—ked up”, had been misinterpreted. 

In one message, Patterson said “it wasn’t worth it”, however when asked what he’d meant by “it”, Patterson said he’d been referring to his six-year relationship with the woman.

Defence lawyer Scott Schaudin captialised on Patterson’s self-deprecating comments during his closing submissions to the jury, but reminded jurors they had to determine the case based on the evidence alone.

“You don’t have to like the accused to find him not guilty,” Mr Schaudin said.

“Being, to use the accused’s own words, ‘a f—kwit’, doesn’t make you a criminal”.