Description
A sex offender was only out of prison for a few days before contacting the "vulnerable" victim of one of his previous crimes, a court heard.
Ethan Vickers was made subject of several prohibitions as part of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed when he was jailed in October 2023.
Durham Crown Court was told they included not deleting the internet history on any device, and not using any alias on social media without the approval of his public protection officer.
But in late February this year, shortly after he was released from prison, police learned he had been in contact with a "vulnerable" 17-year-old woman in the area.
Victoria Lamballe, prosecuting, said it was the same victim of his offending in 2023, when she was aged 15.
Vickers was expressly told not to contact her when he was released from prison on February 20.
Miss Lamballe said some of the messages sent by Vickers to her in the few days after his release were sexually explicit and he also discussed meeting her.
When police visited his Teesside home address his phone was accessed and inspected and there was no evidence of the chat with the 17-year-old.
It emerged he had deleted the messages, in contravention of the SHPO.
Further analysis revealed he accessed X, formerly Twitter, on February 25, using the name 'Soft Boy 123', an alias he had not made police aware of, also in breach of the SHPO.
Miss Lamballe said other messages uncovered by police were made by other people in conversation with Vickers and related to the abuse of children.
She said the repeated nature of them were indicative of the defendant having been in conversation with these people, suggesting he had deleted his own comments.
When interviewed he made no comment at first but he claimed the messages from the female were old ones from previous chats.
Appearing by video link from HMP Holme House, where he has been on remand, Vickers, who turns 21 on Friday (July 11), and said to be of no fixed abode, admitted two breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Miss Lamballe said he has four previous convictions for 15 "all directly relevant" offences.
These included inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, possessing indecent photos of a child, and seeking to meet a girl for sex.
Offences of sexual communication with a child, in breach of a SHPO, led to him receiving a 28-month prison sentence and the further indefinite order, in October 2023.
But in August last year he received a further eight-month sentence for more indecent images offences.
Miss Lamballe added that it was a "significantly aggravating" feature of the case that he was just released on licence at the time of the latest offences and the female involved was the same victim in the earlier offending.
Nicci Horton, in mitigation, said she could not suggest that the defendant should receive anything other than an immediate prison sentence.
"The Probation Service does not feel they can manage his risk in the community.
"It's clear from his pre-sentence (probation) report that he doesn't have the full grasp of why this offending is so serious, but he says the complainant in one count voluntarily engaged with him."
Miss Horton added that the defendant has a diagnosis on the autistic spectrum and is prone to compulsive behaviour.
Judge Jo Kidd told Vickers: "The commission of these offences was within a few days of you being released from prison in circumstances where they were committed on licence and you knew what you were doing was in breach of your SHPO.
"It would appear to have had no deterrent effect on your behaviour, a pattern reflected in your appearances before court in 2023.
"It's clear you have an ongoing interest in viewing images of children and you have a complete disregard for court orders and don't consider they should in any way bound you."
Imposing a further 28-month prison sentence, the judge said it would be an adult prison term, as of Friday this week (July 11).
Judge Kidd said as the victim of his messaging will shortly turn 18 and did not request a restraining order, she would not put such an order in place.