ASHLEY BRYNES FROM HAPTON INVOLVED IN CHILD SEX OFFENDER CASE IN GREATER MANCHESTER

In April 2017, a disturbing incident unfolded involving Ashley Brynes, a man with a troubling criminal history, who was found to have violated multiple legal restrictions while spending time at a woman’s residence in Greater Manchester. The case came to light after the woman, a single mother, allowed Brynes to stay at her home following a meeting on the dating app Tinder. Unbeknownst to her at the time, Brynes was a convicted sex offender with a history of serious crimes involving child exploitation.

Ashley Brynes, aged 30 and a former soldier from Hapton, was already under a suspended jail sentence when he visited the woman’s home. Despite being subject to a sexual harm prevention order that explicitly prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with minors, Brynes disregarded these restrictions. The order also mandated that he inform police of any address where he stayed for 12 hours or more if a child under 18 was present, a requirement he failed to meet.

Legal proceedings revealed that Brynes was aware there was a young child at the property before he visited, as the mother had been transparent about her four-month-old infant. Despite this knowledge, he allowed himself to be alone with the baby, raising serious concerns about his compliance with the court’s restrictions. The woman discovered Brynes’ criminal background only after she searched his name online and found a newspaper report detailing his conviction.

In court, it was disclosed that Brynes had been given a suspended sentence at Burnley Crown Court on September 2nd of the previous year. However, he was later sentenced to a total of 14 months in prison after admitting to breaching the sexual harm prevention order on February 1st and failing to notify authorities of his whereabouts in relation to the child’s presence between February 1st and 2nd. The magistrates’ court, where the case was initially heard, committed Brynes to the Crown Court for sentencing, and Recorder John Jones, QC, handed down the custodial sentence.

Prosecutor Mrs. Alex Mann provided further details, stating that Brynes had pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of a child at the Crown Court. These images were discovered on his mobile phone in 2014. The investigation into Brynes was initially triggered by unrelated police inquiries, which led to the discovery of the illicit material. The images included some of the most severe categories of child abuse, and police found that Brynes had conducted internet searches for terms such as ‘tiny girls having sex,’ indicating a disturbing interest in very young children.

During the court proceedings, it was also revealed that Brynes and the woman had met in a bar before their subsequent meetings at her home. The woman stated that Brynes stayed overnight and spent time with her and her child. She admitted to allowing him unsupervised contact with her infant on two separate occasions—once while she was in the shower and another time while she dried her hair upstairs—raising concerns about the safety and oversight of her child during these encounters.

In a separate but related case in September 2016, Brynes was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse images. The court heard that police, during an investigation into unrelated matters, found indecent images on his Samsung mobile phone. The images included some of the most serious types of child abuse material. Brynes, also from Hapton, pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images in September 2014. One additional charge, which he denied, was subsequently withdrawn. The court was informed that Brynes had searched for terms like ‘tiny girls having sex,’ reflecting a disturbing sexual interest in very young children.

Following his convictions, Brynes was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for a period of ten years and was subjected to a sexual harm prevention order that restricted his internet access. His actions and violations of court orders highlight ongoing concerns about his potential risk to children and the importance of strict legal oversight to prevent further harm.