Description
A man caught by online paedophile hunters encouraging two "teenage" girls to engage in sexual acts has won his bid to keep unrestricted internet access.
Robbie Smith, 31, faced potential limits on his online activity under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after his 2023 conviction.
But Folkestone Magistrates’ Court ruled such restrictions are not necessary or proportionate.
Smith was arrested in 2022 after evidence showed he encouraged two girls he believed were 13 to engage in sexual acts. The accounts were operated by adult decoys.
He initially denied the charges but later pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity.
Smith received a nine-month suspended sentence, two years' supervision, and 10 years on the sex offenders’ register.
His legal team opposed the SHPO application by the Crown Prosecution Service and police. SHPOs are civil measures that can restrict internet use, contact with children, or device access to protect the public from sexual harm.
At the January 12 hearing, via video link from his Ashford home, prosecutor Terry Knox said Smith, then 28, believed the girls were 13: "He was 28 at the time. He thought the girls were 13, so it shows you the age difference."
Smith sent one "girl" a message admitting he could get in trouble, then blocked her. For the other, chats referenced school, but he called her "babe" and "gorgeous," discussed masturbation, and said it was natural for her to "play with her privates."
Mr. Knox added: "There are elements of a grooming nature, but then the paedo hunters come forward. The SHPO is needed to protect the public, or to protect children, or vulnerable adults."
Defender Nigel Riley argued an SHPO must be necessary and proportionate: "My client accepts these are serious matters, but an order of this nature being made, well, the court takes each case on its own facts. And on these particular facts, I will persuade you, it’s not necessary to make such an order. They are made in many cases, but not as a matter of routine."
He noted the offenses occurred nearly four years ago (February-April 2022), with no prior or subsequent sexual offenses, no breaches of notification requirements, and that an SHPO "should only be made at the end of a case, not some four years after the offence has been committed."
Mr. Riley said Smith had a psychiatric disorder, unstable personality, depressive disorder, and was socially isolated amid a health scare: "He was socially isolated and on his computer [a lot] and was particularly depressed."
He added: "There were no underage victims; the matter was reported to police by the paedophile hunters, the vigilante group, and there has been no further offending, and four years have gone by. Were he to reoffend, he would be prosecuted and could get custody. He accepted full responsibility and had genuine remorse and embarrassment; he doesn’t need a further order."
Bench chairman Ken Benn said: "We do not think a SHPO is proportionate to issue; the notification requirements are adequate."
He reminded Smith to comply with the register until its 10-year term ends.