A CONVICTED sex offender has been caught with a secret mobile phone containing indecent images of children, in addition to breaching a court order by using and deleting Snapchat.

Euwyn Draper, 21, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, in April for offences involving the making and distribution of indecent images of children. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to register as a sex offender and was placed under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The SHPO prohibited Draper from possessing any internet-enabled devices not registered with the police, deleting any internet history or applications, and from holding social media accounts under false names. However, Draper was found to have violated several of these conditions.

According to prosecutor Emily Bennett, Draper informed police that he owned only an Xbox and a mobile phone with internet access. He was instructed to delete a second Instagram account, which he had registered under an anonymous name, and his Snapchat account due to concerns about the app’s ability to delete messages.

Between May 5 and July 10, e-safe software monitoring Draper’s registered phone flagged multiple instances where the Snapchat logo appeared on the device’s status bar. Investigators determined that Draper had used the app on at least two occasions, breaching the terms of his SHPO.

When Draper was asked to attend the police station, officers noted that he had deliberately taken a longer route. Upon questioning, he admitted that this was to allow himself time to delete Snapchat from his phone.

During a visit to his home, officers discovered a phone charger under Draper’s pillow, leading them to find a second mobile phone, hidden from the authorities. The accounts on this device matched those on his registered phone.

Draper claimed this second phone was old and that he had forgotten about it, asserting that he did not believe it was still functional. However, investigators found that across his devices, there were seven Category A images, three Category B images, and one Category C image – all created in November and December of the previous year, prior to the imposition of his SHPO.

Draper, who has one previous conviction for six offences, pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and four counts of making indecent images of children.

In mitigation, defence barrister Dan Griffiths acknowledged that Draper had an “unhealthy interest and compulsion” to view the illegal material. He argued that as the breaches had occurred so soon after Draper’s initial sentencing, there had not yet been adequate time for rehabilitation efforts to prevent further offending.

“The support he so desperately needs is not going to be offered to him while he is in prison,” Mr Griffiths added.

The court was informed that Draper had spent the last two months in custody and had been evicted from his home as a result.

Judge Paul Thomas KC adjourned sentencing in order to establish whether Draper would have a place to live in the community upon his release, acknowledging that prison time was a possibility.

“He could not complain if he got 16 months in prison,” the judge remarked. “However, I take your point that, in the long term, it is in everyone’s best interest that he gets over this addiction.”

Draper, previously of Goat Street, Haverfordwest, was remanded back into custody and is due to return to court for sentencing on September 26.