Stephen Parkinson befriended the young girl on Snapchat before sending a number of inappropriate messages across the social media app.
The 32-year-old started to become suspicious and changed the settings on his account before closing it down completely, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said: “It states quite clearly that ‘Izzy’ portrays herself as a 12-year-old girl. The defendant then sends images of a male torso with his penis exposed and encourages her to send some to him.
“He stated that he was 16 at the time. The undercover officer sent pictures of a girl supposed to be Izzy.”
Mr Soppitt said the undercover officer had conversations with Parkinson for four days before the defendant started to become a little bit suspicious and changed the setting on his account.
The defendant, who was living in Hartlepool at the time of the offences, then deleted his account completely.
After he was arrested police discovered indecent images of children on his mobile phone.
Parkinson, of Gordon Terrace, Ferryhill, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child between September 18-22, 2023; possession of one Category B image; and possession of three Category C images.
Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said his client, who has his own children, had taken matters into his own hands and had been seeking support to address his behaviour.
He said: “He has undertaken a significant number of modules with an accredited organisation.”
Judge Tom Mitchell sentenced Parkinson to 12 months in prison suspended for two years.
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He said: “On at least two occasions you sent pictures of a naked torso and a penis, whether or not they were yours is not the point, the fact is they were sexual images and you had no business sending them to anyone let alone a 12-year-old girl or who you thought was a 12-year-old.
“The fact you thought she was as young as she was makes this a serious offence.”
Parkinson was ordered to attend 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days and perform 80 hours of unpaid work.
He was also made subject to a three-month electronically tagged curfew between 7pm and 8am, told to sign on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and was issued with a five-year sexual harm prevention order.