A SEX offender was caught with a secret phone containing indecent images of children and breached a court order by using and deleting Snapchat.
Euwyn Draper was sentenced to six months, suspended for two years, in April for making and distributing indecent images of children. As part of this, he was ordered to register as a sex offender and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
Under the order, Draper was banned from having any internet enabled devices not registered with the police, from deleting any internet history or applications, and from holding any social media accounts under other names.
The defendant told the police that he only had an Xbox and a mobile phone that were capable of accessing the internet. He was advised to delete his second Instagram account – which was under an anonymous name – and his Snapchat account due to the app deleting messages.
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Prosecutor Emily Bennett said that between May 5 and July 10, the e-safe software on Draper’s phone flagged up multiple screenshots where the Snapchat logo was visible on the device bar, and the defendant was twice using the app.
As he made his was to the police station, it was noted that Draper “took a longer route”. When officers asked why he did this, he admitted it was to give himself time to delete Snapchat from his phone.
On a visit to Draper’s home, the officers spotted a phone charger lead going under his pillow, where a second phone was hidden. The accounts on that phone matched those on Draper’s registered phone.
Draper told the police that this was an old phone which he had “forgotten” about and he didn’t think it worked.
Across his devices, officers found seven Category A images, three Category B images, and one Category C images.
These images had all been created in November and December last year – before the imposition of his sexual harm prevention order, Ms Bennett said.
The 21-year-old defendant, who had one previous conviction for six offences, pleaded guilty to three offences of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and four offences of making indecent images of children.
Dan Griffiths, in mitigation, said: “He now acknowledges he has an unhealthy interest and a compulsion to view the material.”
He said that, as this breach had come so soon after his sentencing, there had not been time to carry out the rehabilitation work needed to prevent further offending of this type.
“The support he so desperately needs is not going to be offered to him whilst he is in prison,” Mr Griffiths said.
The court heard that Draper had spent the last two months in custody, and had now been evicted from his home.
Judge Paul Thomas KC adjourned sentencing for enquiries to be made as to whether the defendant would have anywhere to live in the community.
“He could not complain if he got 16 months in prison,” he said.
“However, I take your point that, in the long term, it is in everyone’s best interest that he gets over this addiction.”
Draper, formerly of Goat Street in Haverfordwest, was remanded back in to custody, and will return to court on September 26.
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