Lee Griffiths, a convicted paedophile and registered sex offender, has been incarcerated for noncompliance with a court order following his reintegration into the community.
Lee Griffiths, 39, from Newport, was convicted in November 2023 for possessing indecent photographs of children and received a one-year prison sentence.
Simultaneously, he was subjected to a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which mandated that he refrain from possessing a mobile device or any device capable of accessing the internet.
Lee Griffiths was sentenced at Newport Crown Court on February 3 for violating the five principal stipulations of this court order.
The prosecution said Newport Crown Court on February 3 that Gwent Police officers, while visiting Lee Griffiths’ residence on October 4, heard a mobile phone alarm activate as they neared the premises.
When interrogated at the time, Lee Griffiths asserted that the phone belonged to another individual; however, this assertion was subsequently proven false.
The police examined the phone and discovered that Lee Griffiths had loaded an application that immediately erases all internet browser history, ensuring no record of his searches remained.
They concluded that Lee Griffiths had owned the phone for a period of 10 months – between January and October 2024.
The five breaches were as follows:
- “Possessed any device capable of storing digital images unless you make it available to a police officer or accredited police staff.
- “Used any device to access the internet unless you have first made the device available to a police officer from your local Public Protection Unit to permit the officer to adjust the settings on the device to ensure the device will retain and display the history of internet use.
- “Used a remote electronic storage (commonly known as cloud storage) unless you make it available to a police officer or accredited police staff if they make a request to inspect it.
- “Deleted some or all of the history of internet use from any device capable of accessing the internet.
- “Without reasonable excuse, did something, namely, used a device capable of accessing the internet without notifying Police.”
He has four previous convictions of nine offences. On top of the paedophilia in 2023, he was convicted in 2022 of failing to comply with a court order.
As a result of his latest breach, he was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, and will serve half of this time in Parc HMP before being released on licence.
Gwent Police decline to release Lee Griffiths’ photograph to the media.
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