Darlington
Child Sexual Abuser
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SEX OFFENDER RISKED JAIL FOR BREACHING COURT ORDER BY DOWNLOADING PRIVATE BROWSING APP
A sex offending pensioner risked spending Christmas behind bars after he was found to have installed a private internet browsing app in breach of a court order.
Richard Read, now 68 and living in Darlington, received a suspended prison sentence at Swansea Crown Court, in March last year, for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two counts of making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography.
It related to internet exchanges with what he thought was a 12-year-old boy, 'James', but which was actually an undercover police decoy officer.
He also tried to elicit an image of the boy’s genitals.
The offences were committed in 2022 when the defendant was living in Pembroke, south Wales.
By the time the case came to court, in March last year, Read was by then living in Bristol.
As part of the sentence imposed at Swansea, Read was made subject of both registration as a sex offender and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), restricting his use of the internet, both for ten years.
He appeared at Durham Crown Court for sentence this week (December 22) after pleading guilty to breaching the SHPO at an appearance before magistrates in Peterlee, in November.
Police officers visited Read’s home in October, seized a phone and iPad, and found he had downloaded a private internet browsing app, breaching the SHPO.
He claimed to have used the Nord VPN app to access football matches and Netflix.
The court considered that he misunderstood the SHPO's terms and had no malicious intent, leading to a fine of £126 and an extension of his suspended sentence by three months.
The court warned that any future breach could result in harsher penalties.
Court Outcome
Conviction and Sentencing Details
Sentenced
Detected legal outcome
A sex offending pensioner risked spending Christmas behind bars after he was found to have installed a private internet browsing app in breach of a court order. Richard Read, now 68 and living in Darlington, received a suspended prison s...
Suspended sentence
Richard Read, now 68 and living in Darlington, received a suspended prison sentence at Swansea Crown Court, in March last year, for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two counts of making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography
Court order
ten years
As part of the sentence imposed at Swansea, Read was made subject of both registration as a sex offender and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), restricting his use of the internet, both for ten years
Court order
He appeared at Durham Crown Court for sentence this week (December 22) after pleading guilty to breaching the SHPO at an appearance before magistrates in Peterlee, in November
Court order
Police officers visited Read's home in October, seized a phone and iPad, and found he had downloaded a private internet browsing app, breaching the SHPO
Suspended sentence
three months
The court considered that he misunderstood the SHPO's terms and had no malicious intent, leading to a fine of 126 and an extension of his suspended sentence by three months
Court order
three months
The court considered that he misunderstood the SHPO's terms and had no malicious intent, leading to a fine of 126 and an extension of his suspended sentence by three months
