Description
A serial paedophile with a history of online sexual offending was caught with a secret tablet computer in his room, a court has heard.
Another resident at the hostel where Aithan Jones was living had sold him the device, which he had not told the police about.
The 25-year-old has a history of trying to sexually groom children online and of breaching court orders designed to try to manage his behaviour.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court told the defendant that if he continued offending he was likely to be classified as a dangerous offender and would face significantly longer sentences.
Hannah George, prosecuting, said in 2020 Jones was found to be breaching a sexual harm prevention order by using a number of Facebook profiles to contact a young boy and by attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison at Cardiff Crown Court and upon his release was sent to live in an approved hostel in Swansea.
The court heard that on June 7 this year a search was made of Jones' room which uncovered a tablet device he had not informed the police about. The court heard that another resident at the hostel had sold it to him for 60 though was yet to receive payment for it. The tablet had a sim card in it and was internet-enabled.
Aithan Philip Jones, of The Strand, Swansea, admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO. He has four previous convictions for 10 offences five of which are sexual offences.
Judge Geraint Walters said only a sentence of immediate custody was appropriate. He said in his view the last sentence Jones had been given was too lenient and in his view should have been twice the length. He warned the defendant that if he continued offending the time would come when he would be classified as a dangerous offender.
Giving the defendant the required one-third discount for his guilty plea the judge sentenced him to 12 months in prison for breaching the SHPO. Jones would ordinarily serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community however the court heard he has been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of the 22-month sentence imposed in 2020 and is not not be released from that term until May 2022. The judge said he did not have the power to make the new sentence run consecutively with the existing term of imprisonment, meaning the new sentence will not prolong Jones' period behind bars.