WREXHAM MAN HANDED SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR BREACHING CHILD PROTECTION ORDER BY ACCESSING ADULT CONTENT
A MAN from Wrexham breached his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) by downloading Snapchat to access content from OnlyFans which he had paid for.Peter Smith, 44, had been issued with the SHPO in 2016, after being convicted of making indecent images of children.
At Mold Crown Court today (October 24), Smith, of Philip's Road, Gwersyllt, was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, having admitted breaching the SHPO.
He was warned by Judge Niclas Parry that it is “last chance saloon time” for him.
Prosecutor Dafydd Roberts told the court that, per the terms of Smith’s SHPO, he was prohibited from using an electronic device which could hide, encrypt or not display internet history.
But he breached the order by installing Snapchat, an application which automatically deletes history, on his mobile phone.
Smith contacted police about himself, suggesting someone was using the Snapchat account in his name.
When police found that the Snapchat account had been used on his phone on a number of dates, he gave no explanation.
This was Smith’s second breach of the SHPO, Mr Roberts added.
Representing Smith, Richard Edwards said his client had been paying £20 a month for “adult images” from OnlyFans.
This “necessitated” his use of Snapchat so that he could download the images every time he accessed the OnlyFans content.
“That has been confirmed by the officers who viewed his phone, and saw there was content from OnlyFans,” Mr Edwards added.
He said there has been “no repeat offending of any indecent images of children” from Smith, who “apologises” for breaching the order.
Smith would download Snapchat to access the images, delete it from his phone after doing so, and then re-download it every time he received new OnlyFans content.
Sentencing him, Judge Parry also ordered Smith to complete a 35-session programme, as well as rehabilitation activity requirements.
Judge Parry told him: “There was no accessing illegal images, which is crucial to my decision.
It would be far better protection for the public if you were to be made subject to a very onerous community order element, which I can attach to a suspended sentence.
It’s there to support you, as well as to protect the public.” Smith’s SHPO remains enforced – Judge Parry warned him to “read it very carefully”.
