A convicted male sex offender posed online as a "56-year-old lesbian named Carol" to search the internet for "disturbing" content. In 2017 Geraint ap Dewi Rowlands was handed a two-year suspended sentence and banned for 10-years from using any social networking websites or apps without first making the police aware.
But the 64-year-old from Cleveland Avenue in Tywyn, Gwynedd, who'd been found guilty of possessing extreme and prohibited pornographic images, was caught using a fake identity in order to look for indecent images of young girls.
He appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday, April 13) for breaching his existing sexual harm prevention order. The court heard how Rowlands had completed the requirements of his suspended sentence - including unpaid work - without issue until the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
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Prosecutor, Mr Dafydd Roberts, revealed how Rowlands had gone back to accessing banned websites as early as March of that year. And his online records showed that he continued accessing apps and websites until June 2021.
Last summer, a North Wales Police officer seized a mobile phone and a laptop from Rowlands' home address and discovered he had been accessing various apps, using a fake identity of 'Carol Jones' on one.
The court heard how, using the 'Carol' character, he'd set up an account on Flickr - a picture sharing website. She was portrayed as a "56-year-old lesbian", said Mr Roberts.
Conversations on some of the other apps showed that Rowlands had been apparently speaking to other sexual offenders with similar interests to him. One message referred to "young girls and canines" being "high on his list of pleasures."
North Wales Live also reported how the dad-of-two's internet history had been found to contain various "disturbing" search terms. One of these included an "erotic stories" website on which he'd looked for material about underage girls.
Upon his arrest Rowlands admitted to setting up the accounts and using them but denied any sexual interest in children. He also let slip that he had "six or seven" email addresses of which the police were not aware.
Defending, Mr Simon Rodgers, said that he accepted the content his client went looking for online was "deeply concerning". He added that Rowlands made no attempt to contact any children or download any content.
Mr Rodgers said it was not uncommon in cases such as these for defendants to try to "hide" their "distorted" desires from the authorities. He suggested that a longer, community-based punishment, where such predilections could be addressed through the probation service, would be more beneficial to Rowlands receiving a "limited" prison sentence.
Judge Timothy Petts accepted that the defence had to make these arguments but completely disagreed. He said that there was "no realistic prospect of rehabilitation" for these "disturbing" habits.
Jailing Rowlands for 14 months, he said: "Your distorted mindset still persists and you regard yourself as a passive bystander in this when others discuss child sex abuse. You clearly are there for perverted sexual gratification.
"There's some remorse here but the probation service seem to be of the view that this is only so you avoid jail. That won't work I'm afraid."
An order was also imposed by the judge for the devices that had been confiscated by the police to be destroyed. The sexual harm prevention order continues along the same terms as before.
