Locations
High Street, Blaina, Gwent, NP13
Description
Convicted sex offender jailed for hiding phones and using Snapchat
Ryan Watkins, a convicted sex offender, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after repeatedly breaching his sexual harm prevention order by using undeclared mobile phones and apps including Snapchat.
Watkins, 34, of High Street, Blaina, was convicted in June 2017 of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. He received 20 months’ imprisonment and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
On 28 May, police carried out an unannounced visit to his home. Watkins handed over a Samsung Galaxy phone and claimed he had no other devices. Officers noticed a Google Play Store tab open on the WhatsApp page (the app was not installed). He admitted deleting it, in breach of the order. The phone was seized.
When asked how best to contact him, Watkins revealed a second Samsung Galaxy that had not been registered with police and had Snapchat installed. That phone was also seized.
Police returned on 9 June. Watkins said he had no internet-enabled devices. Officers searched the property and he admitted having a phone hidden behind a wardrobe. It contained Snapchat on an account police had not been told about, and Watkins had posted a story just 11 hours earlier. He was arrested.
Watkins pleaded guilty to five breaches of the sexual harm prevention order. Prosecutor Sarah Grace noted there was no evidence he had used the devices to contact children or vulnerable people.
He had four previous convictions for nine offences, including failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements, and was already subject to a suspended sentence imposed in April the previous year for an earlier breach of the same order.
Defending, Gareth Williams said:
“The defendant is realistic. Ultimately he had to register it with the police and he didn’t.” No illegal material was found on the devices. Williams described the breaches as “unsophisticated”, adding: “If you didn’t want them to find something, you could find somewhere better than behind the cupboard. And you wouldn’t take them to it.”
Judge Shomon Khan remarked:
“It doesn’t make any sense. If he’s using it for legitimate purposes, just register it.” Sentencing Watkins, he said: “You have to accept this order is in place. The whole purpose of the order was to monitor the way in which you used internet-enabled devices and the way you operate online. You repeatedly breached that order.”
The 27-month total includes the activation of six months of the suspended sentence.