SEX OFFENDER FROM ASHFORD ALLOWED TO KEEP UNRESTRICTED INTERNET ACCESS DESPITE ENCOURAGING ‘TEENS’ TO ENGAGE IN SEX ACTS
A man caught by online paedophile hunters encouraging two “teenage” girls to engage in sexual acts has won his bid to keep unrestricted access to the internet.Robbie Smith had faced limits on his online activity as part of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order following his conviction last year.
Smith, 31, was arrested in 2022 after police were given evidence showing he had encouraged two girls he believed were aged 13 to engage in sexual acts.
The online accounts he was conversing with were in fact operated by adult decoys.
Smith initially denied the allegations but later changed his pleas and was convicted of two counts of attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity.
He was jailed for nine months, suspended for two years, and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
His legal team opposed an application by the Crown Prosecution Service and police to impose a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, known as an SHPO.
Smith appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Monday, January 12, via video link from his home in Ashford.
The court heard Smith had started speaking online to “two teenagers” he believed were aged 13 and encouraged both to engage in sexual acts on themselves.
However, prosecutor Terry Knox said the accounts were operated by adults and Smith, of Campus Court, Ashford, had been caught by “paedo hunters” in an online sting.
Mr Knox said: “He was 28 at the time.
He thought the girls were 13, so it shows you the age difference.” Magistrates also heard Smith sent one of the “girls” a message saying he would get into trouble for what he had said and then blocked that account.
Mr Knox added: “He thought the other was also 13 and a chat about school came up several times, but he called her babe and gorgeous and told her he played with his penis and also told her it was natural for her to play with her privates.
“There are elements of a grooming nature, but then the paedo hunters come forward.
“The SHPO is needed to protect the public, or to protect children, or vulnerable adults.” He was diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, an unstable personality and a depressive disorder, and was going through a health scare at the time of the offences.
“He was socially isolated and on his computer [a lot] and was particularly depressed,” he said.
“There were no underage victims; the matter was reported to police by the paedophile hunters, the vigilante group, and there has been no further offending, and four years have gone by.
“Were he to reoffend, he would be prosecuted and could get custody.
