A convicted sex offender found himself back in court after it was discovered that he had been deleting his internet history and three mobile phone apps.
Patrik Sandor was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order when he was caught sending sexualised messages to a ‘14-year-old girl’ who turned out to be a decoy.
The 22-year-old was subjected to regular checks by specialist police officers who discovered his offending on February 28 this year during a routine visit to his home.
Teesside Crown Court heard how he the defendant immediately admitted what he had been doing after the officer checked his mobile phone.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, said Sandor was made subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order in January 2022 when he was caught by the online decoy posing as a teenage girl.
He said: “He said he had deleted the history because he had been watching pornography and didn’t want the police to know.”
Sandor, of Cleveland Court, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his sexual harm prevention order by deleting his internet history and the mobile phone apps.
For the original conviction, he pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a girl of 13 or over to engage in sexual activity and attempting sexual communication with a child.
A judge sentenced Sandor to a three-year community order, meaning he will be supervised by probation for that period- and a 40-day rehabilitation requirement.
Simon Walker, mitigating, said his client lives an almost entirely isolated lifestyle spending much of his time playing computer games and has been working with probation whilst on his community order.
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He added: “He no longer has his mobile phone as the police have taken it off him.
“There was no sophistication here at all. When asked about it he told them straightaway.”
Judge Howard Crowson sentenced Sandor to eight months in custody suspended for one year.
Sandor was told that his community order and sexual harm prevention order would remain in place.
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