Locations
Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14
Description
A Wiltshire sex offender who was previously found guilty of possessing indecent images of children and images of sex with horses and dogs has now been sentenced for breaking court orders.
Anthony Munk, 36, of Trowbridge town centre appeared in Swindon Crown Court on November 6 after breaching the conditions of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Munk became a listed sex offender when he served a six-month prison sentence in 2018 for possession of indecent images of children, and this is not the first time he has broken his SHPO.
In 2020, Munk possessed an Apple iPhone which he had failed to register with police.
When his devices were analysed, police found 15 new prohibited images of children and half a dozen extreme pornographic images showing people having sex with horses and dogs.
They had been downloaded in June, just three months after he was given the earlier court order.
His 2024 breach of condition was also for possessing an internet disabled phone which was not disclosed to Wiltshire Police, and using apps such as Snapchat which do not save messaging history.
The sex offender has now been sentenced to two months in prison, alongside a six month prison sentence which will run concurrently, suspended for 18 months.
He must also carry out 50 rehabilitation activity days and 300 hours unpaid work.
"SHPOs are put in place by the court, to protect the public from sexual harm," said detective constable Chris McLoughlin, from MOSOVO.
"Their conditions assist in managing sex offenders, and may restrict things such as erasing of search history, procurement/destruction of devices, contact with certain demographics and the type or number of devices owned.
"Munk received this order following a conviction for making indecent images of children, and the breaching of the order demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the law.”
When Munk last appeared before the court for breaching his SHPO in 2020, defence lawyer Ray Tully said his client suffered from a number of learning difficulties and mental health issues, including autism, ADHD dyslexia and dyspraxia.
The lawyer suggested Munk had potentially been “set up for something of a failure” by the court that sentenced him in 2018.
“That is because the court at the point when he, appearing before it as a first-time offender back in March 2018, sentenced him without the full knowledge this court now has as to the complexities of his background.”