Stefan Foy 31

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Sex offender Stefan Foy has been back in court after he stayed at a house where there were children without telling police.

The 29-year-old is obliged to inform officers if he is planning to be in a household with minors following his conviction for possessing indecent images of children.

Magistrates at North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard Foy had several overnight stays with a couple he had befriended - who had no idea about his criminal past - which brought him into contact with their three children.

He also deleted the internet history from his mobile phone, which is is banned from doing, after using the dating app Grindr.

Foy will now have to wait to learn his fate until his case is heard by a judge at the crown court, after magistrates ruled the offences were too serious for their sentencing powers.

Prosecutor Sara Beddow said Foy was handed a community order at Chester Crown Court in 2017 and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

"On January 11, police made an unannounced visit to conduct a risk assessment," said Ms Beddow. "He told them he had become friends with a couple in the Stoke-on-Trent area. He initially said the friendship did not bring him into contact with children.

"However, police checked his mobile phone and viewed the Facebook account for the couple. There was a picture of them with three young children.

"He was challenged and asked if the couple had children. He put his head in his hands and said he had been to their house several times and had only met the children 'from a distance'."

The court heard police seized Foy's phone and found he had deleted the Grindr app. He had started a new relationship with a man he met through the app, who was related to the couple Foy went on to stay with. None of them knew about his previous conviction.

Foy, of Cherry Tree Lane, Biddulph Moor, pleaded guilty to breaching a SHPO and failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

He declined the chance to be represented by a solicitor in court, but told magistrates: "I know I did wrong. I was in a bad place over Christmas, I got some attention from someone and his relatives.

"I got carried away with it, I didn't think about what I was doing. It was stupid of me. I'm glad I got caught by the police when I did."

Magistrates ordered a pre-sentence report ahead of Foy's next hearing, which will take place at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on a date to be fixed.