A pervert who made video calls with his ex-partner’s child has been made subject of a community order after he admitted the offence.
Robert Horn was banned from communicating with children after he was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) almost a decade ago.
The 33-year-old was sentenced in June 2016 for downloading indecent images of children and was made subject to the SHPO following his conviction.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Horn had previously breached the conditions of the order but on this occasion, he alerted his probation officer to his offending.
Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said Horn made a number of videocalls with the youngster early last month before being arrested on June 12.
He added: “It seems that the defendant notified his probation officer about the breach.”
Mr Soppitt said Horn was convicted in January this year for again making indecent images of children and was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years and is in breach of that sentence.
Horn, of Berkshire Road, Stockton, pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his SHPO following the videocalls.
Matthew Moore-Taylor, mitigating, said his client appreciates that he is responsible for adhering to the conditions of his court order but maintained that there was no harm caused on this occasion.
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Judge Nathan Adams sentenced Horn to a 12-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work attached for his latest breach.
He added: “When you made the videocall you were in breach of your sexual harm prevention order and you suspended sentence preventing you from contacting children.
“Has this been a one-off occurrence, you may not have found yourself in court but it was repeated on a number of occasions over a short period of time.”
Horn was ordered to carry out a further 20 hours of unpaid work for breaching the suspended sentence from January.
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