Predator from Leeds searched for his child victim on Facebook after release from prison
A persistent pervert who was jailed for abusing a girl under 13 has been locked up again after he began looking for her online.
Jason Forrest was found to have carried out Facebook searches for the girl just days after being released from prison. He was handed a restraining order to stay away from the girl, along with two other females when he was jailed in 2018. He was also put on the sex offender register and given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to help curb his internet use.
The 40-year-old has been jailed twice more for breaching the terms. This week he was brought back before Leeds Crown Court where he admitted a further breach of the SHPO and the register. He appeared in court via video link from HMP Lincoln, having been returned to prison on licence.
The court heard that Forrest had been released from prison on April 4 this year, to live at approved premises on Cardigan Road in Headingley. He would take a bus every day to his parents’ home in Otley before returning before his curfew cut-off.
Officers went to his parents’ home during a routine visit and checked his Samsung phone, which revealed searches for the three females to which he is subject to the restraining order, although no contact was made. He had also searched for a primary school.
They also checked his mother’s Nokia phone, and found similar searches. His mother confirmed she had allowed Forrest to use her phone. During his police interview he admitted using the phones and making the searches, but denied any contact.
He has five previous convictions for 17 offences, including the sexual assault on the girl, harassment and two sets of breaches from 2021 and 2023.
Mitigating for his latest offending, Sam Roxborough accepted there was a “history of disobedience” but said there had been no attempt to hide that he had been using his mother’s phone. He said that he had also been looking after his elderly parents.
The judge, The Recorder of Leeds Guy Keal KC, said Forrest had an “unenviable record” and told him: “It’s plain you appear to have an interest in children. It’s a deliberate breach. You were well aware of the terms of the order.”
He jailed Forrest for 12 months.