Locations
South View, Bishop Auckland, DH14
Description
A County Durham sex offender has been hauled back to court after police found out he'd been deleting his internet history.
Trent Jason Johnson was given a suspended sentence in March last year after being convicted of sex offences and was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and was put on the sex offenders register. As part of his punishment, the 22-year-old must abide by certain conditions and he is banned from deleting his internet history.
But on November 8 this year, police went to Johnson's Bishop Auckland home and seized his iPhone where examinations found he'd deleted his internet history and had created aliases on chat apps but failed to notify the authorities about them. He was then arrested over the breach.
Johnson, of South View, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for breaching a sexual harm prevention order and breaching notification requirements. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.
David Robinson-Young, prosecuting, said Johnson is a registered sex offender and on November 8, police went to his home. He said: "On entering his bedroom the defendant was in bed and they saw a lead going under the pillow. They pulled the lead and retrieved an iPhone and the Yubo app was displaying as live. The phone was seized and he was arrested."
Johnson's phone was examined and it became "clear" to police that he had been accessing sites, despite the device's internet having no history. Johnson is prohibited from using a device capable of accessing the internet unless it can show the history, the court heard.
Mr Robinson-Young told the court that Johnson admitted deleting his internet search history, saying: "He said he felt embarrassed about his porn searches." Johnson also admitted creating usernames on the Yubo chat app, including Memphis21, but failed to disclose them to police.
The court heard that the incident was Johnson's second breach of his order, with 18 months of his suspended sentence being activated in September last year after a breach last August. He appeared at the court via link from HMP Durham.
Stephen Constantine, defending, said: "The only mitigation are his guilty pleas entered in the magistrates'. In police interview he was assisted by an appropriate adult and at the age of 14 he was diagnosed with learning difficulties." Mr Constantine added that Johnson was engaging with mental health organisations and shows "some degree of immaturity".
Sentencing Johnson, Recorder Ian Mullarkey said it was "serious offending" and handed him an 18 month prison sentence.