Locations
Victoria Road, Wrexham, Wales, LL13
Description
Ryan Davies tried to hide his secret phone's identity so police thought it was a gaming console
A "devious" man went to great lengths to hide dating apps and social media he wasn't supposed to have without police approval. His blatant lies were exposed after a police tip off.
Ryan Davies, of Victoria Road in Wrexham, found himself back before a judge at Mold Crown Court on Thursday afternoon. He had admitted before the Magistrates Court to breaching one of the terms in his sexual harm prevention order.
The 22-year-old was made subject to the order after being convicted in October 2019, having sent videos of himself masturbating to a teenage girl. As part of his punishment, along with a spell of custody, he was banned from having social media accounts without notifying the police.
The court heard from prosecutor Andrew Green that the former teaching assistant was visited by the police on January 17 last year at his home address. There, he denied having any form of social media when quizzed about the subject - which later turned out to be a lie.
In fact, the court heard Davies had secret Instagram and Snapchat accounts. Police were given a tip off about these accounts the following month.
The police went back to Davies' home in Wrexham, armed with this information. He denied any knowledge of the two accounts but was a swiftly arrested after an iPhone was found in the passenger footwell of his car.
The smartphone was forensically analysed and officers found the accounts - one of which had been used since October 2020. The court heard that the phone was set up in a way that, were officers to look for devices connected to the internet, it would display as a PlayStation 4.
The police also found Davies had a TikTok account along with profiles on dating apps Bumble and Grindr. Sexual content was also discovered in the device's gallery of pictures and videos.
His web history also proved "unsettling", the court heard. The prosecutor said searches were conducted for "barely legal gay teen porn" amongst others.
Elen Owen, defending, said that Davies was "clearly a socially isolated young man". He took a "huge risk" by hiding this device from the authorities at at time when he was otherwise "turning his life around".
She said: "He tells me today that he knew what he was doing was wrong. What he's done is access various apps and, when one is 22, that is the way they live their lives these days - online."
Ms Owen also told the court that Davies did eventually tell the police about the phone before his arrest. She added that, had he not opened up about it then, the police may never have found its hiding spot.
Judge Niclas Parry said that the court faced a "stark choice" when dealing with him. However, he felt convinced to narrowly suspend the jail sentence.
He said: "You're a slippery, devious and dishonest man. That all makes it very difficult to work with you on an order that's been made because you are a high risk of harm to young children.
"However, you had the good sense to plead guilty. The device was not used commit a further crime and this is the first breach of that order."
The judge granted an order for Davies' secret phone to be destroyed after his year-long custodial sentence was suspended for 18 months. During that time, he must finish 120 hours of unpaid work as well as completing a 20-day rehabilitation activity.