An Isle of Wight man has been convicted of breaching his Sexual Risk Order (SRO) by sending bizarre photographs and inappropriate messages to a teenage girl.
Harry Simmonds, 22, of Harvey Close, East Cowes, admitted two charges of breaching an SRO when he appeared at Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on Friday, 17th September 2021.
Breach of an SRO is an offence under section 122H of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The maximum penalty for this offence is 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 5 years' custody on conviction on indictment.
Simmonds, who goes by the nickname "Baby Harry" owing to his unconventional tendency dress up as a baby, was made subject to the order by Portsmouth Magistrates' Court in December last year.
The order was made following a string of previous convictions for grooming and sending inappropriate images of a sexual nature to children and young people. It prohibited him from living with anyone under the age of 18 or engaging in sexual communication with anyone under the age of 18.
Magistrates heard that Simmonds breached the order by contacting the 16-year-old complainant between 24th February and 1st March 2021.
Via the medium of SnapChat he asked the girl about her boyfriend and sent her an image of himself wearing a nappy and holding a sign saying "I'm a pedo".
The girl reported the matter to the police, who arrested and interviewed Simmonds about the matter.
No sooner had he been released, than he was sending her further SnapChat messages under a pseudonym, including one saying "I'm going to rape you".
Charles Nightingale, prosecuting, told the court: "The Crown says this person presents a current and ongoing risk to young persons and the Crown says there are persistent and deliberate breaches of the order.
"This caused concern, alarm and distress to this young woman."
Mr Nightingale said in his opinion the Magistrates' sentencing powers were insufficient to deal with the offences at hand.
Oscar Vincent, mitigating, told the court that there were no definitive sentencing guidelines available for breaching an SRO, but the case was comparable to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
He asked the court to grant bail to his client, but Magistrates refused saying he was "incapable of complying with bail conditions" and no conditions could be imposed that would allay their concerns about his further offending.
Simmonds was remanded in custody until his sentencing hearing at Isle of Wight Crown Court.
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