A high-risk child sex offender was back in court after breaching the terms of a court order designed to address their deviant behaviour.
Zoe Spooks Hardy, who was arrested and charged under the name Luke Hardy, used a number of aliases for online accounts including dating and gaming apps.
The 24-year-old was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order in October 2022 for a five-year period after being sentenced for three counts of making indecent images of children, including eight of the most serious kind.
Saba Shan, prosecuting, said the defendant was arrested after police were tipped-off about their online activity and officers seized a mobile phone.
She said: “The officers identified that the defendant had been using three different alias names on a dating site, including the alias name ZHSpooks2k.
“Secondly, there was an email account registered under a female name. Finally, on the Clash of Clans online game, the defendant was using the alias name of ZoeH1337.”
Ms Shan said the defendant admitted using all three aliases when interviewed by police.
The court heard how the defendant has three previous offences for making indecent images of children and additional breaches of the SHPO.
Hardy breached that order in 2023 by deleting the internet history on their phone, including erasing dating apps from the handset.
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Later in the same year, they were given a suspended sentence for a further breach of the SHPO after they downloaded Grindr, Kik, Growlr and Tinder.
Hardy, of Yarm Lane, Stockton, pleaded guilty to three breaches of their SHPO following their arrest last month in Bishop Auckland.
Judge Richard Clews jailed Hardy for eight months for breaching the SHPOs and an extra month when he activated part of previous suspended sentences.
He told the defendant: “It is appropriate to describe the breaches of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order as persistent and deliberate.”
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