A SEX offender convicted four times for flouting orders to control his behaviour was spared prison because it would be "kicking the can down the road".

Judge Neil Davey, QC, told Lee Rogers that supervision from probation officers and a treatment programme were the best thing for him and the public.

Rogers has been the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order since 2011 after he was convicted of sexual assault and possessing extreme pornography.

Among other things, the order prohibited him from having a device capable of accessing the internet and having unsupervised contact with under-16s.

The 21-year-old, of Hartington Road, Stockton, flouted the order within months and again the following year, Teesside Crown Court heard today (Wednesday).

In 2013, he received a suspended prison sentence for another breach by downloading indecent images of children, said prosecutor Harry Hadfield.

Then last year, Rogers was jailed for 14 months for contacting a 15-year-old - which he was banned from doing - and using a false name at a library.

Within weeks of being freed from prison, he secretly bought a smartphone and used it to look at pornography and read stories about incest.

When police called at his hostel in Middlesbrough and asked if he had a mobile, he produced "a dummy" - a Nokia with no camera or internet access.

Staff said they had suspicions Rogers had another handset, and when officers asked again, he confessed that he did and what he had used it for.

He said he was worried that it would be found, so he dismantled it and flushed the bits down the toilet before the visit, Mr Hadfield told the court.

Mr Hadfield said a plumber took apart the hostel's water system, and found every part of the mobile except for the SIM card - which is still missing.

Julian Gaskin, mitigating, said: "He tells me repeatedly he doesn't want to be like this and he is prepared to engage with and speak to people."

The court heard of Rogers's troubled childhood, and Mr Gaskin said: "This is clearly a young man who needs to work with those who can assist him."

Rogers admitted two breaches of the SOPO and was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with a rehabilitation activity requirement.

Judge Davey told the bearded pervert: "If I was to pass an immediate custodial sentence it would be to simply kick the can of the problem down the road.

"It seems to me that this is the best hope for the future, and the best hope for you and for the protection of the public, but it is now up to you."