Latest Offenders

Description

A woman was drugged by a convicted sex offender who shaved her pubic hair and raped her while she was unconscious. He also sexually assaulted her with a sex toy which left her in pain worse than childbirth.

Jake Pinhorn, 33, met his victim on an online dating site and went on to sexually abuse her at a hotel in Caerphilly after forcing her to drink a green liquid. She was knocked out as the defendant committed a number of sexual acts upon her designed to humiliate her.

A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard the defendant and the victim had initially met on an earlier occasion when they had consensual sex. When they met in Caerphilly Pinhorn produced a green liquid which he forced her to drink. She swilled some of it in her mouth before spitting the rest out.

The victim fell in and out of consciousness as a result of a drug in the drink and recalled hearing the sound of an electric razor and Pinhorn doing something to her. She noted a black pump and felt pressure near her vagina. The victim fell asleep and woke up in great pain. She went to the toilet and "felt her insides were going to fall out." That morning she and the defendant showered separately and he tipped the contents of the bin into a plastic bag. He then dropped her off at the train station and left.

Prosecutor Dan Jones said the victim returned home and had a bath when she realised her pubic hair had been shaved without her consent. She reported the matter to friends but it wasn't until three years later she contacted the police after watching a programme featuring a woman who had experienced similar trauma.

Pinhorn, of Percy Gardens, Worcester Park, London, was arrested and interviewed, telling police all sexual acts had been consensual. He was released on bail in the meantime. The defendant was later arrested again after an IP address linked to his home had been involved in the sharing of indecent images of children on peer-to-peer software. Electronic items were seized from his house and an ASUS laptop was examined. The device was found to contain 2,987 category A images, 3,214 category B images, and 8,095 category C images, a total of 14,296 indecent images.

During questioning Pinhorn initially claimed the laptop belonged to his then partner, who was subsequently arrested, but he later accepted responsibility for the images. The defendant pleaded guilty to rape, assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of indecent images. He was also in breach of a sexual harm prevention order issued when he was convicted of possessing indecent images in 2018.

In a victim personal statement read to the court by Mr Jones the victim said: "Since making the decision to report the rape my life has never been the same. I struggle to sleep and have constant nightmares. I have the sensation of someone constantly on top of me trying to rape me. I wake up and my bed linen is on the floor where I have been kicking during the night from feeling scared. I have cried so much, in shock and not understanding why I've changed so much.... I'm taking medication for anxiety and depression but I don't feel like it's helping. I think about what happened daily and waiting for the matter to come to court has made it worse.

"I struggle not knowing what happened when I was unconscious or if the defendant took pictures of me. I remember the pain in my vagina, I suffer flashbacks and feel scared. Before this incident I was very social and would go out every weekend but since this incident I struggle to trust anyone, I stay at home and don't go out."

In mitigation the court was told the defendant's actions were "against the grain" and an "isolated aberration." Since his remand in prison it was said Pinhorn had been on suicide watch.

Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams said: "You shaved her pubic hair to degrade her and prepare her for rape, penetrated her with a sex toy you brought to the hotel, causing enormous pain and suffering, it was pain she felt was worse than having a baby... You carefully planned to drug, rape and humiliate her."

Pinhorn was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment with an extended licence period of five years. He will serve two thirds of the custodial sentence before he will be considered for parole.

Description

A former Olympic swimmer who represented Britain in the 2012 London Games has been jailed for 21 years for raping two teenage girls.

Antony James, of Crownhill was convicted by a jury last October at Plymouth Crown Court of eight charges, including three counts of rape, three of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He had previously pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent photographs of a child, although prosecutors at the court were at pains to explain these were effectively cases of production, as he had urged the two girls - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - to take indecent images of themselves which he then asked to be sent to him.

The jury could not reach a verdict on one count of sexual activity with a child, and five counts of rape and the Crown Prosecution Service did not continue with those charges. The trial judge directed not guilty verdicts for three counts of intentionally encouraging/assisting an offence.

During the opening of the case against James, now 35, prosecutor Lee Bremridge said the former Olympic swimmer met and effectively groomed each of the girls, revealing his "perverse sexual needs and desires".

The jury was told that following James' arrest in 2022 police found evidence of James using the Chaturbate sexual internet site and recovered messages from 2019, where he referenced the name of an underage girl who he later went on to rape.

One of his victims bravely read out a victim impact statement in court, saying that James has "stolen a portion of my life" and left her feeling "vulnerable, weak and trampled".

At his sentencing hearing today, Judge Robert Linford told James he was satisfied that one of his victims took indecent photos of herself at his request and sent them onto him.

He said James had an "entirely nonchalant" attitude towards the allegations when he was interviewed by police, claiming it was "entirely consensual".

He said James had "groomed" the girl and "ruthlessly exploited" their needs for his own ends. He said he left one of his victims feeling ashamed of her own body and that she would "never forgive you" for what he'd done to her, leaving her suffering debilitating panic attacks and turning to a clinical psychiatrist to manage her anxiety.

He accepted James had no previous convictions and his advocate's observations that he had represented the country at the Olympics and Commonwealth games, had done charity work and that the sentence he would serve in prison would be "alien to you".

He handed James an eight years jail sentence for the rape of the first girl and 13 years for the two offences of rape of the second girl. In both cases the girls were over 16 but still teens.

The sentences were to run consecutively, totalling 21 years. He was told he would serve two-thirds - 14 years - before being released on licence.

He was placed on the Sex Offender's Register for life and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 25 years.

Description

A "dangerous offender" with a series of sexual offences sent two young girls sexual content on WhatsApp whilst asking them to do the same. Ethan Owen, 30, was at the time a registered sex offender for life and under a sexual harm prevention order.

Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins told Cardiff Crown Court Owen had been on a Fortnite game with two primary school-aged girls after they were added to the game. He subsequently added them both to a WhatsApp group named "bad" where he could see they were clearly children from their profile pictures.

On the group Owen sent horrible messages inciting sexual activities and one of the victims described the pictures and videos as being "disturbing" and featuring naked men and women. The court heard the girls initially thought he was a "normal person" but this quickly changed when he sent various pictures and videos which showed his genitals, him and a woman having sex and him performing sexual acts alone.

He asked one of the girls to send a picture of her genitals and told her to perform sexual activities. The court heard one of his messages said he was "going to come to her house and do something to her" and after he was blocked he tried contacting one of the girls through his girlfriend's phone.

Ms Smith-Higgins said Owen has "a number of relevant previous convictions" with seven convictions for 31 offences. His offending began in 2009 when he was 15 years old and he is currently serving a 50-month recalled prison sentence.

He has breached a sexual harm prevention order on several occasions and has also been charged with threatening behaviour and failing to comply with a community order. John Ryan, representing Owen, told the court his client is now receiving one-on-one psychological intervention which he is finding very helpful and stressed that although his client has a string of previous convictions none of them were hands-on offences.

When sentencing, Judge Francis was keen to point out that "none of this behaviour occurred in a vacuum." She continued: "During the time you were involved, and knowing what both girls looked like, you nonetheless indulged in sexual conversation with them. You sent them images, sexual images and asked one to send you intimate photos.

"This offending did not happen in a vacuum. You have a significant history of sexual offending. You have been appearing before the courts for it since you were a teenager. The fact of the matter is your offending has gone on for so long and been so similar."

The judge listed Owen's previous convictions and said he was classed as a dangerous offender in 2013 when he was given an extended sentence. She added: "You were a dangerous offender then and you are a dangerous offender now."

Owen had pleaded guilty to all six offences at a plea and trial preparation hearing. He was charged with causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, two counts of engaging in sexual communications with a child, two counts of causing a child to watch an explicit act and the breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

Owen, of Vale of Glamorgan, was sentenced to an extended sentence of five years, 40 months custodial and five years on licence with the lead offence of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. He will continue to be under a sexual harm prevention order for life and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

Description

Colin Milton, from Blackpool, repeatedly raped and physically assaulted a 16-year-old girl who he was in a relationship with.

The 58-year-old was aged 36 at the time of the offences which took place between 2003 and 2005 in the Middlesbrough area.

A court heard how Milton used to lock the girl in the house to prevent her from leaving.

In April 2021, the victim reported the offences to Cleveland Police and an investigation began with specialist detectives from the Historic Investigations Unit.

At the time of the offences, the court heard the girl was too afraid to disclose what Milton was doing as he made threats to harm her family.

During the investigation, detectives uncovered Milton had also sexually abused a 12-year-old girl while at a property in the Middlesbrough area.

When Milton attended an interview to be questioned on the offences, he gave a prepared statement denying the allegations and answered no comment.

Milton, who pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing, appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Monday 24 February to be sentenced for rape, false imprisonment and three counts of indecency with a child.

A judge told him he would serve 26 years. He was sentenced to serve 21 years in prison and a five year extended licence on release.

Description

A serial sex attacker who raped two women and attempted to rape a teenage girl has been jailed for 24 years.

The latest of Alex King’s attacks took place in September 2023 when a teenage girl was attacked by King after he offered to help after the car she was travelling in had broken down.

The now 27-year-old told his victim that he was going to take her back to her home – instead he subjected her to a terrifying series of rapes and threatened to kill her. 

He eventually let the teenager out of the car and she managed to flag down a member of the public who called police.

But in a bizarre set of circumstances King rang police a short time later – explaining that he had simply been a good Samaritan and a girl had attempted to blackmail him.

The two incidents were swiftly linked, and King was arrested at his home in Dudley Drive, Littleover.

With King in custody officers from the force’s specialist rape team found significant similarities between the case they were investigating and an incident that had occurred in Littleover the previous month.

In that incident a teenage girl had reported that a man in a dark coloured car had attempted to drag her into his car in Chain Lane, Littleover.

She had managed to fight him off and escape – and he had driven off.

Officers made enquiries about King’s movements on that night and found that his black BMW matched the description of the offenders car – and he had been caught on his doorbell CCTV camera leaving his home in the timeframe the offence took place.

With the two offences now linked detectives were concerned that King may have been the perpetrator in other offences. His home gave him easy access to the A38 and a trawl of offences with similar circumstances was conducted with surrounding forces.

It was through that trawl that officers linked King to a reported rape in Newark in September 2019 where a teenager reported to police that she had been raped by a man following a party.

Initially no charges had been brought, however, after the victim was contacted again she was able to confirm that King was the man who had attacked her.

King was eventually charged with four counts of rape for the September 2023 incident, one count of attempted rape for the August attack, and one count of rape for the 2018 incident.

He eventually pleaded guilty to all offences and today (24 February), at Derby Crown Court, he was jailed for 24 years with an extended licence period of six years. He will also be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Description

A SEX offender who accessed the internet just 10 days after being handed an order banning him from doing so has been locked up for two-and-a-half years.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Kieron Mead, now 34, was made subject to a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in June 2023 after being convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Prosecutor Aimilia Katsoulakis said that police officers found he had been using several social media platforms, sending messages and participating in chats, during a routine check in August 2023.

He had also been using a Harry Potter-themed app to communicate with others.

He was arrested on suspicion of breaching his SHPO and several devices were seized including an iPad, a Samsung mobile phone, and an Xbox console with hard drive attached.

The police also found a smartphone, which Mead had not presented and which violated prohibitions, putting him in breach of the SHPO.

The smartphone showed evidence of Facebook activity under an account called “Kieron Meadonator Mead” that had sent messages to a female just 10 days after the SHPO was imposed. He was prohibited from using Facebook.

A year later officers made a further visit to Mead’s home and asked him to hand over his devices. He presented a Nokia non-smartphone and a laptop.

The laptop contained numerous emails from a dating website and evidence that Mead had logged into his account.

He denied he had any other devices but when the officers heard a notification sound he retrieved a Samsung tablet from under his bedcover, which he claimed was his mother’s.

However she later confirmed he exclusively used it.

The tablet was found to have an active game running, with a chat function that was considered to be an unauthorised messaging platform. The tablet also contained Snapchat, which Mead was prohibited from using.

He was arrested for breaching his SHPO and the laptop and tablet were seized.

In May and June 2024 Mead used various social media platforms to chat under several aliases with females, which were not registered with police and therefore represented further violations of the order.

During three police interviews he gave “no comment” answers to all questions.

Mitigating, John Bottomley said Mead, of Canterbury Crescent, Halifax, had had issues in terms of his upbringing, including emotional development that led him to communicate better with children than with adults.

He described the offending of Mead, who had spent 242 days, or almost eight months, on remand as “snowballing”.

Mr Recorder Andrew Haslam KC said Mead, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, was guilty of persistent breaches of his SHPO.

He said: “You must have bought another device to access the messaging platforms and Snapchat after the police seized your smartphone in August of the previous year.”

He described Mead’s breaches as “persistent” and that his repeated offending over a 12-month period was aggravated by the first breach being committed “within a matter of days” of the SHPO being made.

Sentencing Mead to a total of two-and-a-half years imprisonment he said he would serve up to 40 per cent of that in custody minus time spent on remand.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE who was on bail after he downloaded indecent images of children went on to groom a vulnerable girl and meet her in a field.

Steven Pearson, 44, had contacted the girl on an app called Roblox and travelled from London to meet her in the Manningtree area last October.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Friday how the girl had gone missing from her address after saying she was going to meet her teenage boyfriend.

Callum Munday, prosecuting, said the girl’s grandfather spotted her about an hour later and saw she was being followed by Pearson.

Pearson told officers at the scene he was “just exploring the countryside and saw a girl that needed help” when he had in fact been touching her sexually.

Mr Munday said: “Officers found Pearson was on police bail for other child sex offences – he was prevented from having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.”

When police examined Pearson’s devices, they found he had sent messages to an account which read: “Love you princess, have you had a good day at school?”

The girl told police Pearson had contacted her on the Roblox app before the two then communicated on the messaging app Discord and arranged to meet.

The court heard Pearson had also been engaged in sexual communication with a decoy account and that he believed he was talking to a 13-year-old girl and asked her to take pictures of herself at school.

Pearson, of Somerfield Road, Islington, London, admitted two charges of engaging in sexual communication with a child, and one charge each of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, sexual assault of a girl under 13, causing a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and meeting a girl under 16 years of age following grooming.

Jack Coyne, mitigating, said Pearson accepted he is sexually attracted to children and that he does not enjoy having become “a pariah”.

He said: “He’s got no friends, no family – nobody who wants to speak to him.

“A large part of that is due to his offending, no doubt. He is not seeking sympathy but those are the circumstances for him.”

Sentencing Pearson, Judge Mary Loram KC said the offending was aggravated by the fact he was on bail for previous sex offences.

She said: “There can be no doubt to how vulnerable she was to people like you, who would prey on her and manipulate those vulnerabilities to their own ends.

“You travelled some distance to meet with her – your intention was to have sex with her.”

Pearson was jailed for ten years, registered as a sex offender for life, and ordered to serve a 20-year sexual harm prevention order to stop him having contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Description

VICTIMS of a paedophile who "took advantage of their vulnerabilities for his own gain" have spoken out to safeguard the next generation after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Sixty-seven-year-old Barry Farrant sexually abused his victims in south Essex in the 1990s and 2000s, before they both came forward and spoke to officers in 2020.

After years of investigation by Essex Police's child abuse investigation team, he was charged with seven charges of indecent assault of a girl under the age of 14 and five charges of gross indecency with a girl under the age of 14 in July 2023.

One woman said: “Barry Farrant entered my life while I was still trying to learn the world around me.

“Taking advantage of my vulnerabilities for his own gain, he created a life that no child should experience.

“When I spoke to Essex Police in 2020 I was no longer able to bury the mental and emotional pain I was suffering.

“The last four years have been difficult, upsetting and important not just for me but for any child who has experience abuse like the abuse Barry Farrant inflicted upon me.

“I gain no pleasure from speaking up, and struggle to think of strangers seeing this side of me, but what feels right is knowing that by doing this I can play a small part in safeguarding the next generation against the very real monsters threatening to take away another childhood.”

Farrant, of Front Street in Durham, had denied the offences but a jury found him guilty of all charges at Basildon Crown Court on December 5.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a further two years on licence at the same court on Friday and will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order preventing him from any contact with children and requiring him to inform the police of any future relationships.

Description

A 31-year-old registered sex offender has been sent back to prison after he breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

James Coombes, previously of Northampton, was convicted in 2016 of causing/inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and making indecent images of children.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register as a result and issued with a SHPO, meaning that he had to abide by some very strict conditions when he was released from prison.

He was also subject to unannounced visits from Northamptonshire Police’s MOSOVO Team. These visits could happen on any day and at any time.

So, on February 10, when the team visited his home address in Northampton and examined his devices, they discovered that he had used electronic cleaning software on his computer and removed 4.3gb of data which he said he had used to clear gaming files.

The use of this software, however, was prohibited, and Coombes was arrested and charged with breaching his SHPO.

He pleaded guilty to the offence at Northampton Magistrates’ Court last week (February 11) and was sentenced to one year in prison.

Description

A convicted child sex offender is back behind bars after he deliberately deleted an app designed to monitor his online activities.

David Smith had only been out of prison for a few weeks when he carried out a factory reset on his mobile phone claiming he had inadvertently downloaded a virus while searching for a horror film.

The 60-year-old’s fanciful claim was categorically dismissed by a judge as he was locked up for more than two years for the order breach.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2021 and he had been caught by an undercover police officer trying to arrange to have sex with a mother and daughter.

Judge Richard Bennett said: “In full knowledge of the terms of your SHPO, you reset your mobile telephone and in the process you deleted all of your internet history and you also removed the risk management software installed on your device.

“You claimed to the police that you did so because you downloaded something onto your mobile that contained a virus – I make it clear that I reject that explanation entirely.

“I’m satisfied that there was no such virus and you deliberately deleted this phone to hide evidence. I’m satisfied you deleted this telephone because you knew there was material on it that you did not want the police to see.”

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Smith had only had the monitored mobile phone for a few days before he admitted deleting the monitoring app.

“He had only been released from prison on December 19 as a result of a conviction for failing to comply with his notification requirements and breaching his SHPO,” she said.

Smith, of Hartington Road, Stockton, who pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching his sexual harm prevention order following his arrest on January 21 this year, was jailed for 28 months.

Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client was the one who contacted the police to inform them that he had deleted the monitoring app off his phone but accepted that he often acted on impulse.

She added: “The pre-sentence report doesn’t make happy reading. The defendant is well aware of its conclusions and his almost inevitable custodial sentence.”

Description

A sex offender who raped an underage girl has been jailed.

Conner Dilkes, aged 18, assaulted the girl in July 2023 and was arrested soon afterwards.

Dilkes was interviewed several times and gave inconsistent accounts.

In his first interview, he denied knowing the girl and insisted he had never met her.

However CCTV and forensic evidence proved otherwise and he went on to plead guilty to two counts of rape in relation to the attack, which happened in an overgrown area in Daybrook.

Dilkes, of Oxclose Lane, Arnold, also admitted theft, assault by beating and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place in relation to an unconnected incident in June last year.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday he was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

He was also added to the sex offenders’ register for life and also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order that will tightly restrict his activities once he is released.

An indefinite restraining order that prevents him contacting his rape victim was also imposed by the sentencing judge.

Description

A WEST Cumbrian man who completed a Probation Service course to rehabilitate sex offenders is back behind bars after he returned to using the internet to look for child abuse images. 

Benjamin Kennedy, 34, who downloaded 11 indecent child images, blamed his return to offending on poor mental health and drinking too much.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that the defendant, of Haig Road, Whitehaven, had earlier admitted the indecent child images offence as well as twice breaching his previously imposed sexual harm prevention order.

Prosecutor Tim Evans outlined the offending.

The background was that Kennedy was convicted in April 2021 for engaging in sexual activity with a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act. This led to him being given a community order and the sexual harm prevention order.

He was back before the court in November 2022 for downloading indecent child images.  He was given an eight-month jail term, suspended for two years. Mr Evans then outlined the most recent offences.

On August 17 last year, the defendant disclosed to his offender manager that he had a new Samsung phone, which was equipped with “E-safe” police monitoring software.

Police were later alerted that the software was subjected to a “forced stop.”

Two days after this, on November 4, the police asked Kennedy to come to the station with his phone so it could be checked. It became clear there had been a “deliberate deletion” of messages on the phone’s Snapchat application.

It had been set up to automatically delete messages after 24 hours – a clear breach of the defendant’s sexual harm prevention order.

This led to a deeper investigation of the phone, said Mr Evans.

This was when the downloading of the 11 illegal images was discovered. There was also evidence, said Mr Evans, that the defendant had been requesting sexual images from other users.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, said the Snapchat offence resulted from the application automatically deleting messages after 24 hours and Kennedy should have known this and acted accordingly.

“He failed to do so,” said the barrister.

Regarding the other offending, Miss Whittlestone said Kennedy was struggling with his mental health, feeling he was “unable to move forward” with his life. His father had been “targeted at work,” said the defendant.

This included an assault, causing stress within the family.

The barrister added: “This impacted on his mental health, and he began to drink… and this led to him committing further offences.” The defendant had been feeling lonely and isolated, said Miss Whittlestone.

The barrister accepted that Kennedy completed the Probation Service New Horizons Programme for sex offenders.

Miss Whittlestone added: “He knows the pain and suffering he has inflicted on his family and hopes that, when released from custody, he can re-engage with the Probation Service and put offending behind him.”

Judge Nicholas Barker said the defendant was now a “persistent sexual offender.” The purpose of the three-year community order he was previously given allowed him to work extensively with “highly trained professionals.”

The suspended sentence order imposed in January 2023 could not have been a clearer warning to the defendant of his need to reform. The judge said: “There are no interventions that the Probation Service can do.

“Essentially, they have been working with you between April 2021 and November 2024 to address your offending behaviour, but you have not done so. The court can’t come to any considered view that there is a prospect of rehabilitation.”

Judge Barker jailed the defendant for 15 months. Kennedy will be on the Sex Offender Register for seven years.

Description

A paedophile pensioner broke a strict court order by leaving the UK without telling police – just days after he was hit with a £10,000 fine for amassing a sick stash of child abuse material.

James Sneddon stockpiled obscene photos and videos for more than a decade at his home in Milnathort.

Description

A SEX offender has been jailed for breaching a court order just two months after it was made.

Phillip Davies of Hawarden Road, Caergwrle, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Thursday.

The 55-year-old had previously been found guilty of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Richard Edwards, prosecuting, told the court Davies was made the subject of the 10-year SHPO in February 2024 after being convicted of attempting to cause a child to engage in a sexual act and attempted sexual communication with a child.

As part of the order, police installed a piece of monitoring software on his mobile phone.

The software in question tracks static and moving images, words and phrases on screen and the device's keyboard input - and sends a signal to a server every hour to verify that it is active.

But in April 2024, following a review of the defendant's phone, officers noticed Davies was receiving notifications from dating sites; when there was no evidence of him using such sites in his internet history.

When asked about this, the defendant claimed the monitoring software had stopped working, and that he'd "had to turn it back on manually."

Checks were made and Davies' lies were revealed - when it was confirmed he had actually stopped it from working himself.

Mr Edwards said the defendant's behaviour represented a 'persistent breach.'

Dafydd Roberts, defending, told the court: "It is a very strange case and a difficult one to mitigate for Mr Davies.

"He maintains his denial that he did anything deliberately and says the app still switches itself off."

Mr Roberts told the court despite the latest offences, his client had demonstrated 'near-exemplary' compliance with the community requirements of his suspended sentence order.

But he also conceded that by his latest conviction, Davies was in breach of that order.

"There is more work that can be done with this defendant," he added.

"And there is a suggestion that he could be dealt with in the community - I invite Your Honour to consider drawing back."

Judge Niclas Parry told Davies: "You were given a suspended sentence for serious sexual offences involving what you believed were young children.

"Within two months of being given that opportunity, you were deliberately breaching your SHPO."

The Judge handed down a sentence of 12 months concurrent on each of the breach offences - and activated 12 months of the breached suspended sentence to run consecutive.

That made a total of two years immediate custody.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE caught with indecent images was a foster carer and worked with children, it has emerged.

Steven Breslin-Green was a registered foster carer and was “involved in a number of settings with children and young people in Newport”, the city council confirmed.

The 40-year-old from Abertillery was warned earlier this month he could be facing a prison sentence after admitted having nearly 200 child abuse images on his laptop.

Newport council said he has not worked “in any capacity” for the authority since it became aware of the allegations against him last year.

A spokesperson stated: “While he has never been directly employed by the council, he has worked in a number of settings with children and young people in the city including local authority settings.

“Breslin-Green would have been under supervision at all times in these settings and would not have carried out personal care without another person present.

“He was approved as a local authority foster carer in the summer of 2023 following thorough background checks.

“This was terminated in the summer of 2024 when the council was made aware of these allegations.”

None of the offences he has been convicted of relate to any children he cared for, the authority said.

“The charges he faced related to downloading images of children and do no relate to any child that he cared for or any local children,” the spokesperson added.

“However, that does not lessen the seriousness of such crimes as the young people in such images, wherever they live, are innocent victims and this behaviour cannot be tolerated.

“We, of course, share and understand the concerns of parents.

“The council, his employers and the settings where he worked were prevented from making public statements or discussing the case while legal proceedings were ongoing.

“However, direct enquiries from individuals have been addressed and they have been signposted to appropriate support if required.”

Breslin-Green pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images of children.

The defendant had 40 category A images, the most serious kind, 64 category B images and 91 category C images.

His offences were committed between April 22 and May 21 last year, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Breslin-Green will now have to register as a sex offender.

When the defendant admitted the offences at the start of February, his barrister Gareth Williams said: “The defendant is a man of previous good character with no previous convictions and I would ask for a pre-sentence report.”

Judge Hywel James told Breslin-Green: “I’m adjourning for reports today but all options remain open in terms of sentence and that can include custody.

“I note you've got no previous convictions and on that basis I'm in agreement that a pre-sentence report needs to be prepared.

“That's to assist in terms of the court knowing more about you and in how to deal with the matter.”

Sentence will take place on March 6 and the defendant was granted conditional bail.