ANDOVER PAEDOPHILE CALLUM BATES SHOCKS WITH MULTIPLE BREACHES IN HAMPSHIRE

In a series of disturbing incidents, Callum Lee Bates, a 24-year-old man from Andover, has once again found himself at the center of legal proceedings related to breaches of his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

His latest violations involve unauthorized communications with individuals he was legally prohibited from contacting, specifically through the social media platform Discord, which is widely used for instant messaging, voice calls, video chats, and file sharing within private groups known as 'servers.'

According to court records, Bates was initially subjected to a five-year SHPO in April 2018, which explicitly forbade him from having unsupervised contact with any male under the age of 16. Despite this, he breached the order in 2020, leading to a subsequent sentence of a three-year community order issued in February 2021.

His most recent breaches occurred over a period stretching from October 25, 2022, to May 9, 2023. These violations involved him engaging in communication with individuals he was legally barred from contacting, without providing police with the necessary details of these interactions.

On Thursday, July 20, at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court, Bates pleaded guilty to ten charges related to these breaches. The case was subsequently brought before Winchester Crown Court on September 8, where Judge Timothy Mousley KC delivered the sentencing.

During the hearing, Judge Mousley emphasized the importance of preventing further offenses, stating, “My aim is to simplify the matter so that there are no more instances you have to come back to the court.” He further explained that Bates’s existing suspended sentence remains in effect, which could result in up to six months of imprisonment if he commits another offense.

In response to his latest violations, the judge revoked all previous community orders and imposed a new six-month community order on Bates. Additionally, he was ordered to complete ten days of rehabilitation, aimed at addressing his behavioral issues and preventing future breaches.

A review of Bates’s sexual harm prevention order is scheduled to take place at the same court on October 3, to assess whether further restrictions or actions are necessary.

Earlier in the year, in July 2023, Bates had already admitted to breaching his SHPO by attempting to communicate with individuals he was legally barred from contacting, including a 13-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr. Despite the seriousness of this breach, he was sentenced to a three-year community order, which included a mental health treatment requirement and 60 days of rehabilitation activities, including participation in an adapted sex offender treatment program.

In a separate but related incident from February 2021, Bates, then 21, was sentenced to a three-year community order after admitting to breaching his SHPO by making contact with a 13-year-old boy on Grindr. The court heard that Bates, who has complex learning difficulties and is considered naive, had messages exchanged with the child, initially believing the boy was 18. Once Bates became aware of the child's actual age, he continued contact, which was a clear violation of his court orders.

Judge Angela Morris acknowledged Bates’s vulnerabilities but emphasized the gravity of his actions, stating that imprisonment would typically be appropriate. However, considering his learning difficulties, she opted for a community order with mental health treatment, stressing the importance of ongoing supervision and treatment to prevent future offending.

Adding to his troubling history, in March 2018, Bates was caught attempting to meet a nine-year-old boy at Andover railway station after posing as a police officer online. Under the guise of being a trainee police constable, he engaged in explicit messaging and invited the child to his home for sexual activity. When he arrived at the station, he was confronted by paedophile hunters from the SKID team, who had set up the decoy. Bates broke down in tears as he was detained, sobbing that he was “really scared.”

Hampshire Constabulary confirmed that Bates had previously been accepted into the Volunteer Police Cadet scheme in 2016 but left before completing his induction, raising concerns about his behavior and the potential risks he posed.

These incidents collectively highlight a pattern of concerning behavior and repeated breaches of court orders, underscoring the ongoing challenges faced by authorities in managing individuals with a history of sexual offenses, especially those with vulnerabilities such as learning difficulties. The legal proceedings continue to unfold as authorities seek to ensure public safety and prevent further harm from Bates.