A sex offender was found with indecent images of children on his phone after a police search unearthed a collection of illicit material.
Michael Wells, 27, from Thirsk, went into Northallerton Police Station to sign paperwork as per the requirements of a sexual-harm-prevention order following a previous conviction for sexual activity with an underage girl, York magistrates heard.
Prosecutor Antony Farrell said that police at the station used special powers under Section 32 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act to search Wells during the signing of the paperwork.
This piece of legislation allows police to search an individual if they believe they may have incriminating evidence on them.
They seized Wells’s mobile phone on which they found numerous indecent images of children.
Mr Farrell said the device contained 69 indecent images and, of those, 19 were rated Category A – the worst kind of such material. There were also 21 Category B images and 29 Category C files.
He said there was evidence that Wells had used an internet search engine to actively look for illegal images of minors.
Wells, of Hambleton View, was charged with three counts of making or downloading indecent images of children. The three counts represented each category or level of depravity.
He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today (October 7) at York Magistrates’ Court.
Mr Farrell said that Wells had a previous conviction for sexual activity with a child when he was 20 years’ old.
That conviction led to the sexual-harm-prevention order (SHPO) to which Wells was still subject when he went into the police station to sign paperwork pertaining to the order.
Wells’s solicitor urged magistrates to sentence his client immediately rather than send the case to the Crown Court.
He said that Wells would be subject to the sexual-harm order, imposed for his previous offence, until December 2030 and his rehabilitation would be stymied if he were jailed.
However, magistrates said the new offences of making indecent images were too serious for them to retain jurisdiction and sent the case to the Crown Court for sentence.
Wells, who is on benefits, will appear for sentence at York Crown Court on October 28. He was released on unconditional bail until then.
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