Adam Bushell 33

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Adam Bushell was not allowed unsupervised access to children - but he moved in with a woman and her young daughter

Devious sex offender Adam Bushell breached court orders by moving in with a single mum after changing his name to try to keep his sordid past a secret.

The 27-year-old was locked up in 2016 after being caught by paedophile hunters Dark Justice when he turned up for a meeting with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl he wrongly believed he had been chatting to on a dating website.

Having served a prison sentence for that, he was placed under restrictions in the community and was banned from having unsupervised contact with children without parental permission and without having disclosed his previous offending.

But he met a woman on a dating site and moved in with her and her 10-year-old daughter and had been living with her for eight months before the truth finally came out.

A court heard the woman had no idea he was a sex offender until her friend became suspicious and found him on a Google search.

He had been left alone with the youngster on numerous occasions, although there is no suggestion he abused her.

A judge branded Bushell devious after hearing he had even changed his name to Andrew Robinson in a bid to keep his past a secret.

The horrified mum, who was pregnant by him by the time she found out about his past, said she felt physically sick and said she wanted him out of her life.

Now Bushell has been sent back to prison for two years after he admitted failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements and breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Those orders remain in force.

Judge Simon Batiste, at Newcastle Crown Court, told him: I am satisfied you changed your name in order to hide your identity and hide your past.

You lived with a 10-year-old child and never notified her mother.

In my judgement, these were very high risk actions, given your previous convictions.

They show a very high level of deviousness and connivance.

People who behave in such a high risk way, having committed the past offences you have, must understand these orders, the sex offenders register and the sexual harm prevention order, have teeth.

You must understand, these requirements upon you must be met or longer and longer custodial sentences will follow.

Prosecutor Neil Pallister told the court Bushell had been assigned a risk management officer when he was released from his 16 month sentence for the Dark Justice offences.

By March this year Bushell, who had made excuses to keep the officer away from the Jarrow address he had been living at and suggested they meet at a police station, had lost contact completely with the authorities.

It was later revealed he had started a relationship with the woman early last year and had moved in with her in September.

Mr Pallister added: She has confirmed at no point did the defendant disclose he was the subject of a sexual harm prevention order or a registration requirement.

Throughout their relationship, the defendant continued to use the surname Robinson and was introduced to friends and family using the name Robinson.

The court heard the truth was revealed when a woman Bushell was introduced to became suspicious about him.

Mr Pallister said: The name she knew him by, Adam Robinson, she Googled and nothing came up.

In May 2018 she Googled Adam Newcastle and came up with a number of images of sex offenders. An image of Adam Bushell came up.

She immediately recognised that the image was the same male she knew as Adam Robinson.

When she found out, the single mum he had been living with told police: I dont want to speak to him, I just want him out of my life. I feel physically sick.

Brian Mark, defending, said there was no suggestion Bushell had committed any sexual offences.

Mr Mark said Bushell had wanted a normal life and a normal relationship and added: He slipped the leash in order to be able to have a relationship.

It was about his selfish wish to have a relationship.

Bushell had been jailed for 16 months in 2016 after he started talking to a decoy profile on an adult dating website and soon started exchanging private messages with her via Whatsapp, despite thinking she was just 13.

During the conversations, Bushell asked for nude pictures and sent shirtless snaps of himself. When asked if her young age put him off, Bushell said it did a bit and said he couldnt have sex due to her age but then promised to be gentle.

He was confronted by members of Dark Justice, who alerted the police, when he turned up to meet the girl in Newcastle.

In 2011, Bushell was convicted of battery after putting duct tape over the mouth of a woman who was 33 weeks pregnant and given a suspended sentence.

He assaulted the same woman later that year and was jailed.

Bushell received a caution in 2010, when he was 19, for having sex with a teenage schoolgirl.