A pervert who was caught with a despicable image of child sexual abuse has been jailed for consistently breaking the terms of a court order.

Michael Hampson, 31, was reported four years ago by a so-called hunting party who posed as an 11-year-old girl named Lucy to catch him.

This led to Hampson being placed on a five-year sexual harm prevention order for sending ‘Lucy’ pictures of her private parts.

He also told her that he loved her and wanted to be with her.

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The Holland and Barrett worker went on to breach the order twice and was given a 12-month community order in 2019.

But a few weeks later, a police risk assessor visited the 31-year-old, who handed him a Nokia phone. He had deleted internet history and the phone contained an indecent image of a child being sexually abused.

The defendant also failed to disclose that he purchased a Sony phone and created a Google account under the name Michael Parker.

Now Hampson, formerly of Forest Road, Meir, and now living in Burton, has been jailed for 15 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court despite his solicitor saying he was ‘low risk’ and that he was “doing his best to make amends”. ‘.

Prosecutor Nick Tatlow told the court the defendant was seen by a police risk assessor on January 16, 2020 and handed over a Nokia phone for inspection.

Mr Tatlow said: “He did not show any internet search history. The defendant said he was deleting his internet history.

“The phone was later examined and a single indecent image was found of a grown man fondling the breast of a 13-year-old child.

“A risk assessor attended the Salvation Army hostel in Stoke and the accused allowed his room to be checked. A telephone was found in a bag.

“He was visited by another risk assessor at Burton on November 30, 2020 and he provided a Nokia phone for examination. He did not disclose that he purchased a Sony phone on November 28, just two days before the visit.

“On January 26, 2021, he was asked to produce devices for internet access and he produced the same Nokia but did not produce the Sony.”

A police examination of the Sony phone showed that the history had been deleted. He also had a Google account in the name of Michael Parker.

Mr Tatlow said: “He confirmed it was his. He used it and installed it at the Salvation Army. He said he used it to keep other residents from knowing that he was a sex offender.”

Hampson, now of St Paul’s Street, Burton, pleaded guilty to possession of an indecent image of a child; failure to comply with Sex Offender Registry notification requirements and six charges of breaching a Sexual Abuse Prevention Order (SHPO).

Anis Ali, mitigating, urged Judge Paul Glenn to step down from immediate custody to recognize the positive steps Hampson has taken.

Mr Ali said: “There is no indication or evidence that there has been a recurrence. The risk of harm remains low.”

Mr Ali added: “He is doing his best to make amends.”

But the judge said the offense was so serious that only immediate detention was appropriate. Judge Glenn said: ‘One would have hoped you would have learned your lesson from the previous proceedings and understood the SHPOs [Sexual Harm Prevention Orders] are there to protect the public, especially children. But you reoffended almost immediately.

“You handed over a Nokia phone for inspection and you deleted the search history and only one category B image was found on the phone.

“You kept getting and using different phones and you were surprised many times.

“When the risk assessor and the police visited you, you were using a different name and you opened a Google account under that name.

“You have treated the SHPO and the notification requirements frankly with contempt.

“I take offenses involving deleting internet history seriously. There can be no good reason you did this. The police weren’t interested if you played games on the internet. The conclusion is that you did not want the police to know what sites you visited and what documents you viewed.

“These were persistent offences.”

Judge Glenn made Hampson subject to a new seven-year sexual abuse prevention order and placed him on the sex offender registry for the same period.

He ordered the confiscation and destruction of the seized phones.