A Birchwood Paedophile, Thomas Stevens, has once more been apprehended for grooming and engaging in sexual discourse with a minor, this occurrence transpiring shortly after his release from incarceration.
Thomas Stevens, previously convicted of a child sex offence, violated his duty by failing to register as a sex offender in connection with his recent offence.
He possesses prior convictions for summoning emergency services to fictitious occurrences and for forcibly opening train doors during transit, which led to emergency pauses and incurred a £25,000 delay compensation for the train operator.
The 24-year-old, Thomas Stevens, was charged with engaging in sexual communications with a minor and failing to adhere to his sex offender registration obligations.
He acknowledged both counts during a prior hearing and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, appearing via video link from HM Prison Liverpool.
David Birrell, for the prosecution, informed the court that Thomas Stevens was subjected to sex offender registration obligations in October 2022, following his conviction for inducing a child to participate in sexual activity.
He was discovered to have ‘groomed and coerced’ a kid into self-performed sexual activities after misrepresenting his age and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Thomas Stevens encountered the 12-year-old girl via an online video game and requested to add her on Snapchat, falsely claiming to be 15 years old, while he was actually 19.
She informed him that she was 12; yet, they commenced frequent intimate conversations on WhatsApp and Instagram, which included the exchange of sexualised photographs and videos.
Thomas Stevens transmitted images of himself engaging in sexual behaviours, while she provided nude photographs at his request. He also solicited her to engage in self-pleasure everyday and record these activities for his viewing.
The conversations ceased upon her discovery of a post on his Instagram that revealed his actual age.
The victim informed the police that she was averse to engaging in the sexual acts, performed them to please the defendant, and felt coerced by him.
Thomas Stevens was freed from custody in July of the previous year; however, he was apprehended in March after law enforcement discovered that he was utilising many usernames and aliases on social media that had not been registered with Cheshire Police, as mandated by the conditions of his sex offender registration.
Authorities confiscated his laptop and mobile phone, and further research indicated that he engaged in sexual communication with a vulnerable 13-year-old girl over WhatsApp and Snapchat over a considerable duration, and shortly after his release from incarceration.
The court was informed that the girl’s profile picture depicted her in a school uniform, with Mr. Birrell remarking, “She is evidently a child,” further asserting that this was an authentic child rather than a decoy account.
The minor explicitly stated her age as 13, yet Thomas Stevens expressed a desire to engage in sexual conduct with her, claiming she was ‘arousing’ him.
The defendant reportedly provided a ‘mostly no remark’ response during the police interview, and the court noted that he has four prior convictions for twelve offences.
In addition to his prior child sex offence, he had incurred over £25,000 in delay compensation for train operator Northern by instigating emergency stops through the forcible opening of train doors.
He also mobilised emergency services to fictitious occurrences via a series of 39 fraudulent 999 calls over a two-week period.
The accounts detailed an individual collapsing, a stabbing incident, and many vehicular collisions, prior to the individual being apprehended at the location.
Thomas Stevens subsequently ‘relapsed’ and resumed prank calling 999, employing a fictitious identity to report that a woman was ‘on the incorrect side of a bridge.’
Prior to punishment, Recorder Jeremy Lasker stated: “The prosecution appropriately asserts that the communications indicate this was a vulnerable schoolgirl.”Your failure to comply with registration requirements poses a genuine risk of significant harm to actual children.
Regarding the postponement of punishment, he remarked: “This is entirely your responsibility, as you perpetrated these offences while under the terms of your licence, resulting in your recall to prison.”
Thomas Stevens, residing on Partridge Close in Birchwood, received a 15-month prison sentence to be served immediately.
Thomas Stevens is mandated to register as a sex offender for life and must comply with the stipulations of a sexual harm prevention order for the subsequent 10 years.
The court also sanctioned the forfeiture and destruction of the seized laptop and mobile phone.
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