Father reported his own son to police after finding nude photos of toddler on his phone, officers say

Pictures were taken of sleeping relative of 17-year-old's girlfriend

Andrew Spensberger (O'Fallon Missouri Police Department )

A father reported his own son in to the police after he found nude photos of a toddler on his phone.

Police in O'Fallon, Missouri, said 17-year-old Andrew Spensberger faced charges of "possession of child pornography" over the "inappropriate" pictures of a two-year-old child.

Andrew's father Paul Spensberger called the police after confiscating his son's phone as punishment for other "bad behaviour", local TV station Fox 2 reported. Police said the pictures were of a relative of the father's girlfriend.

Police said Andrew had planned to sell the photos "for cash". According to US media reports, when confronted by his father he said he had taken the pictures to sell to a high school classmate who he suspected of being a paedophile.

Andrew, who suffers from behavioural problems and attends a special needs school, said he had hoped to get $350 for the photograph and needed the money as he owed it to others, it was reported.

Paul Spensberger was quoted by the Mail Online as saying he felt he had no choice but to contact the police in the hope his son, who has been in trouble for theft in the past, would learn a lesson.

The Mail Online said the father said he "[didn't] know if [he] would do the same thing again now", adding that Andrew "feels like s***", and is "scared, facing time in prison".

Mr Spensberger later told Fox 2 that he denies saying some things that are being quoted by another media outlet.

Andrew was handed a Class D felony charge by the St Charles County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, police said, with a $10,000 bond for a first offence.