Robert Bevan 36

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A sex offender spent years frequenting schools, parks, and children's parties after deceiving police about his living situation.

Lorry driver Robert Bevan, who is under a lifelong sexual harm prevention order intended to restrict his access to children, but for years went about normal family life apparently without any of the other parents he came into contact with being aware of his past.

Swansea Crown Court heard there was no suggestion he has sexually offended since his last sentence in 2011 but for years lied to the police and his offender manager about his domestic situation. Sending Bevan down a judge told him he had deliberately withheld information from the police and now the time had come to pay the price, reports WalesOnline.

Harry Dickens, prosecuting, said Bevan's sexual offending began in 2007 when he was sentenced for engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13 and continued with convictions in 2009 for engaging in sexual activity with a child, taking indecent images of chid, exposure, and outraging public decency and in 2011 for further acts of exposure and outraging public decency. The court heard the defendant is subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) designed to control his access to children and is a registered sex offender.

The barrister said around seven years ago Bevan embarked on long-term relationship with a woman he met through a dating website. During this time Bevan would do school runs, attend parks and soft play areas, and go to children's parties. The court heard that though Bevan had been managed by a sexual offender manager for some 14 years he had never once disclosed the details of his new domestic arrangements nor disclosed that he was a father. There is no suggestion of any new sexual offending since the defendant's last conviction.

The court heard the failure to abide by the terms of the SHPO came to light in April this year when police made unannounced visits to an address he had registered in Swansea. The defendant was not home but was spoken to on the phone and told officers he was only at the address infrequently due to his work as a long-distance lorry driver. Bevan was required to provide a list of places where he was "tramping" – that is places where he was sleeping overnight as part of his job – and police then searched his vehicle. The court heard officers found children's toys in the vehicle along with letters in the defendant's name which were addressed to his mother's house. When police searched his mother's property they found bedrooms with children's beds and drawers full of children's clothes.

Robert Bevan, aged 36, of St Helen's Road, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offenders registration scheme. He has six previous convictions for 27 offences some 22 of which are sexual offences. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.

John Allchurch, for Bevan, said after being released from his last custodial sentence the defendant had taken steps to turn his life around, successfully addressing his Class A drug addiction and training to be an advanced HGV driver. He said his client accepts he made a "massive mistake" by not notifying the police of the nature of his domestic arrangements and said he realises that when he is released from custody he will have to work with the authorities. The advocate added that Bevan's mother, father, and sister were at court to support him.

Judge Geraint Walters said Bevan had committed a "flagrant and persistent" breach of court orders which had been imposed due to the defendant's offending including his "history of disturbing exposure" offences. He said the defendant had taken a deliberate decision to withhold information from the police and would now have to pay the price. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Bevan was sentenced to two years in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.