Paedophile returned to jail after hiding dating apps on his phone
Judge said it was a deliberate attempt to stop police monitoring him
A convicted paedophile who tried to stop police from monitoring his internet use has been returned to jail.
Thomas Lee, who was previously jailed for attempting to target children online, admitted breaches of the sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), which allows officers to keep a close eye on him.
Leeds Crown Court heard that during a routine inspection in October last year, it was found that the 40-year-old had downloaded a dating app, iHappy, which put him in breach of the SHPO.
During a close analysis, officers found he had installed private browsers and had installed and deleted other dating and social media apps.
Overall, Lee admitted three breaches of his SHPO and a breach of the sex offender register after he failed to turn up at the police station in May for his annual registration.
Lee was convicted in July 2024 of four counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and jailed for 16 months. He received a 10-year SHPO and was put on the offender register for the same length of time.
Prosecutor Emily Jenkins said Lee had breached the SHPO after his release and received a six-month suspended sentence.
Mitigating, Thomas Doyle said Lee’s latest breaches had put him in a precarious position, and that a return to prison was likely.
But he added: “He has never been given the opportunity to truly try and address his behaviour.”
He said that Lee was unemployed and was living at Ashdene in Wakefield, a unit for vulnerable men.
Mr Doyle added that Lee had trouble with alcohol in the past but was now sober.
Judge Howard Crowson told him that he “deliberately” prevented the police from monitoring him, that he has a history of breaches and told him prison was “inevitable”.
He jailed him for 12 months, and activated four months of his suspended sentence, making a total of 16 months.