A TWICE-CONVICTED child sex fiend had been out of jail for just days when he lied about his age and past to get close to schoolgirls, a court heard.

Kai Griffiths - first in trouble as a 12-year-old for molesting a school friend - is now back behind bars, branded "devious and manipulative".

Judge Peter Bowers yesterday told him: "What worries me is you have had sex offender treatment and you are either unwilling or unable to learn from it."

The same judged jailed Griffiths for nine years in 2010 for preying on a virgin schoolgirl as well as a burglary and a brutal late night gang attack.

He was released on licence from that sentence in February, and within days was arranging meetings with teenagers on Facebook where he claimed he was 17.

The 24-year-old pretended to be a traveller, put on a false accent and used the name Paddy whenever he met the schoolgirls near his hostel in York.

He also started a relationship with an older woman - and sexually assaulted her when she fell asleep on a sofa after an afternoon boozing session.

Judge Bowers jailed him for four-and-a-half years, and told him: "The probation report says you remain manipulative, devious and dishonest. It's worrying."

Griffiths, formerly from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, did not disclose his perverted past when he began the relationship with the woman.

He claimed he had served a long sentence for serious violence, and she tried to end the fledgling relationship because of the way he treated her.

Teesside Crown Court heard that he went to the victim's flat after texting "it's not over", and groped her twice while she dozed on the settee.

The woman later found out who he really was, what he had done in the past and contacted all the girls he had been chatting with on social media.

However, the alarm was not raised before Griffiths had frequently met the youngsters, bought them alcohol, and been to the home of one of them.

He had kissed at least three, asked one to be his girlfriend with the promise of gifts, and taken video footage on his phone of them dancing in a bedroom.

Alexander Menary, mitigating, told Judge Bowers Griffiths had "drifted through life doing as he pleases, without really any thought of the consequences".

Mr Menary added: "It is fairly clear, after the last sentence, he fell out of his period of incarceration into offending pretty much straight away."

Griffiths, who lived in Valley Drive, when he got nine years, admitted charges of sexual assault and breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Judge Bowers told him: "Having been released on licence, you were, within days, deliberately and persistently flouting that for your own sexual gratification."

DC John Atkinson, of York Serious Crime Team, said: “Kai Griffiths clearly poses a threat to the public and the court has quite rightly imposed a lengthy custodial sentence.

“Griffiths offended within weeks of his release from prison on licence, carrying out two sexual assaults on a vulnerable victim.  He also passed himself off as a 17-year-old in order to gain trust and unsupervised access to a number of children in direct breach of his Sexual Offenders Prevention Order. One can only imagine where this may have led, had he not been apprehended.

“I would like to pay tribute to those victims and witnesses who came forward, as well as the wider families and friends that supported them. North Yorkshire Police treat all reports of sexual assaults extremely seriously, and in all cases a key priority for officers is ensuring that the victims receive the care and support they need.”

Anyone who is the victim of a sexual assault should not hesitate to come forward to the police or contact one of the many agencies who can help.

If you do not want to talk to the police, you can contact Bridge House, North Yorkshire's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) directly on 01904-669339 www.turntobridgehouse.org 

To contact North Yorkshire Police please call 101.
If you have a speech or hearing impairment you can use Textphone 18001   
In an emergency or if your safety is threatened, always call the police on 999
Textphone 18000 - in an emergency
North Yorkshire's Confidential Rape Support Line, 0300-111-0777 run by the Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS)
National Rape Crisis Support Line Freephone 0808-802-9999