Registered sex offender sent to prison for deleting mobile phone app

A 31-year-old man has been jailed for nearly three years after he admitted to breaching the terms of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Simeon William James Weekes, previously of Wigston, Leicestershire, was issued with a SHPO in February 2018 following his conviction for making indecent photographs/pseudo photographs of children.

The SHPO was issued with certain conditions he was required to abide by, including not deleting any search history or downloading and deleting mobile phone apps.

However, on September 16 last year, when police officers made an unannounced visit to Weekes’ home address in Northampton, they analysed his mobile phone and found that he had downloaded and then deleted a social networking app.

He was arrested and subsequently charged with breaching his SHPO.

On October 29 last year, Weekes appeared at Northampton Crown Court where he pleaded guilty, returning to the same court earlier this year (January 15) where he was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.

Investigating officer PC Leanne Tyson, from the Force’s MOSOVO team, said: “Being given nearly three years in prison for deleting your app history may seem harsh to some, but we will never apologise for taking a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to the management of sex offenders.

“The conditions of a SHPO are put in place for a reason and there are no excuses for not abiding by them.

“We will always seek prison sentences and we will continue working hard to bring more people like Weekes to justice.”