Luke William James

Luke William James, a 30-year-old former hotel worker from Pembrokeshire, Wales, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court for breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed following a previous conviction for sexual assault. The breach occurred in April 2022 when James, who had met a woman with young daughters on an online dating site, failed to disclose his status as a convicted sex offender and engaged in contact with the children.

James had previously been convicted in November 2021 for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Tenby. In that incident, he pulled the teenager's top away from her chest, made comments about her not wearing a bra, kissed her neck, and put his arms around her. For this offence, he received a 16-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months, was required to complete the Horizon sex offenders programme, 250 hours of unpaid work, and a rehabilitation course. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and made subject to an SHPO, which prohibited unsupervised contact with females under 16 unless their parent or guardian was informed of his past.

Despite these restrictions, James met the woman and her family at a park without revealing his conviction. During the outing, one of the young daughters later reported to her mother that James had shown her a video on his phone depicting an 'animated singing penis', described in court as a clip of 'bums of willies'. Concerned, the mother searched online and discovered James's criminal history, prompting her to alert Dyfed-Powys Police.

Upon arrest, police searched James's phone and confirmed the presence of the inappropriate video. James claimed he believed the prohibition only applied to unsupervised contact. Prosecutor David Singh outlined these details at the hearing, while defence barrister Dyfed Thomas argued that James had moved to a new area to start afresh and expressed remorse, though a pre-sentence report noted his evasiveness and high level of sexual preoccupation.

Judge Huw Rees expressed concern over James's background, including his failure to attend probation appointments, evasive behaviour regarding internet use, and messaging multiple women in a sexual manner. Noting that James had been fortunate to receive a suspended sentence previously, the judge imposed a six-month prison term for the SHPO breach, activated 12 months of the prior suspended sentence consecutively, resulting in an 18-month custodial sentence. James will serve up to half in custody before release on licence. The case was reported by Wales Online on 13 September 2022, based on court proceedings at Swansea Crown Court.