A TikTok paedophile has been jailed once again after he bought a new tablet "to watch TV" without telling police immediately.
Keith Stobbart purchased a black Samsung tablet in May but failed to tell officers within three days, despite being subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The 68-year-old, who is currently residing at HMP Holme House in Stockton, has a history of child sex offences - and was most recently jailed for 32 months in 2024 for accessing indecent images of children and sexual communications with a child.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Stobbart has seven convictions for 21 offences, and has repeatedly breached SHPOs in his past.
He was jailed for six years for historic offences of a sexual nature in 2008, and found himself back in court for breaching a SHPO in 2015 and 2022
In 2022, he was given a community order for sexual communication with a child after sending a graphic, sexual comment to a 14-year-old on TikTok.
Imogen Eastham-Brown, prosecuting, said Stobbart was visited by an offender management officer on June 6 and asked to provide all electronic devices.
The court heard that he presented a black Samsung tablet and said he purchased the device on June 1. However, upon examination, search history came up for May 23 and 29.
This was in breach of his seven-year SHPO.
“He was questioned about this and said he had it for a couple of weeks”, Miss Eastham-Brown said. “The defendant said he hadn't had time to do it.
“The device was seized on June 9 and he was arrested and interviewed.
“He said he found it difficult to remember the prohibition.”
Stobbart, who was defending himself on a live link from prison, said he had been sleeping rough in his car for weeks and said he was “terribly sorry” for breaching the order.
The defendant, who said he was recovering from cancer, claimed to have only purchased the device so that he could watch TV while living in the car.
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Judge Nathan Adams said he did not accept that as a reasonable excuse and branded it a “deliberate breach not to notify police of the device”.
No unlawful material was found on it.
Judge Adams sentenced Stobbart, who is already in Holme House as he was on licence at the time of the offence, for 10 months.
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