Andrew Watkins, 41, has been jailed for two years after he breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by spending two nights a week at his partner's house while her two children were present. He was also found to have downloaded an indecent image of a girl aged between eight and 11.
Breach of court order
Watkins was convicted in 2024 of offences relating to indecent images of children. As part of his sentence, he was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years, which prohibited him from deleting his internet history or having any social media accounts not under his own name or without the knowledge of police.
In February this year, a probation officer questioned Watkins about a number on his mobile phone. He admitted he was in a relationship with a woman, who had two young children, whom he had met on the dating app Hinge via an account he was prohibited from using. The woman was unaware of Watkins' previous offending.
Additional images found
At a sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court on Thursday, prosecution barrister Megan Williams said Watkins, originally from Bridgend but currently of no fixed abode, also used an Instagram account not in his name and had deleted his internet and browsing history. He was also found to have different accounts on different sites, some of which were designed for people with sexual fetishes.
During searches of a mobile phone, police found six Category C images of children, one of which showed a young female between the age of eight and 11. Watkins was arrested on October 7 and charged with six counts of making an indecent photograph of a child, 10 counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and one count of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register.
Sentencing
Defence barrister Jon Tarrant told the court that his client "understands that custody must be inevitable in the circumstances".
Addressing Watkins, Judge Huw Rees said: "You have an unhealthy interest in prepubescent children and you have committed serious offences." He added that Watkins had shown a "flagrant disregard" to the Sexual Harm Prevention Order put in place previously in 2024.
Watkins was sentenced to two years in prison. He was made subject to notification requirements as part of being on the Sex Offenders' Register for the next seven years, and he remains subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which is in place until 2034.
