A Bishop Auckland sex offender Trent Johnson has been summoned back to court following the discovery by police that he had been erasing his internet history.
Trent Johnson In March of the previous year, received a suspended sentence following his conviction for sexual offences. He was also subjected to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register. The 22-year-old is required to adhere to specific terms as part of his penalty, including a prohibition on wiping his online history.
On November 8 of this year, police visited Trent Johnson’s residence in Bishop Auckland and confiscated his iPhone, where investigations revealed that he had erased his internet history and established aliases on chat applications without informing the authorities. He was subsequently apprehended for the violation.
Trent Johnson, of South View, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for breaching a sexual harm prevention order and breaching notification requirements. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.
David Robinson-Young, prosecuting, said Trent Johnson is a registered sex offender and on November 8, police went to his home. He said: “On entering his bedroom the defendant was in bed and they saw a lead going under the pillow. They pulled the lead and retrieved an iPhone and the Yubo app was displaying as live. The phone was seized and he was arrested.”
Trent Johnson’s phone was examined and it became “clear” to police that he had been accessing sites, despite the device’s internet having no history. Trent Johnson is prohibited from using a device capable of accessing the internet unless it can show the history, the court heard.
Mr Robinson-Young told the court that Trent Johnson admitted deleting his internet search history, saying: “He said he felt embarrassed about his porn searches.” Johnson also admitted creating usernames on the Yubo chat app, including Memphis21, but failed to disclose them to police.
The court heard that the incident was Trent Johnson’s second breach of his order, with 18 months of his suspended sentence being activated in September last year after a breach last August. He appeared at the court via link from HMP Durham.
Stephen Constantine, defending, said: “The only mitigation are his guilty pleas entered in the magistrates’. In police interview he was assisted by an appropriate adult and at the age of 14 he was diagnosed with learning difficulties.” Mr Constantine added that Trent Johnson was engaging with mental health organisations and shows “some degree of immaturity”.
Sentencing Trent Johnson, Recorder Ian Mullarkey said it was “serious offending” and handed him an 18 month prison sentence.
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