A CONVICTED sex offender has been given a suspended jail sentence after he flouted the terms of his sexual harm prevention order.

Eden Valley man Darryl Saunders, 33, originally prosecuted following a police sting as he tried to sexually groom a 13-year-old girl online, was back before the court after he adopted a female persona for a Facebook Messenger account.

He also flouted the rules of the Sex Offender Register by using an internet enabled laptop without having registered the device with the police as required. He pleaded guilty to both offences. 

In 2019, the defendant, from Newton Reigny, west of Penrith, was put on the Sex Offender Register after police caught mounted an online operation to trap online sex offenders. Saunders was caught chatting online to the "child".

He was unaware he was conversing with an under-cover police officer.

On that occasion, he admitted attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child; and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The prosecutor in that case had said of Saunders: "He said he could drive from Penrith to Preston... He also asked [the girl] if she wanted to have sex when they met.” When confronted by police, Saunders expressed remorse.

The latest charges he admitted relate to conduct in September, when he created the Facebook Messenger account with a female name, but he failed to register this with the police.The second charge states that between September 4 and 26, at Newton Reigny, he bought an Asus Chromebook internet enabled device, 

 Judge Nicholas Barker imposed a ten-month jail term, suspended for 18 months. The sentence includes 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity days. The Asus laptop will be forfeited.