June 2015 Exeter sex offender broke order by talking to girls in chat rooms A registered sex offender has pleaded guilty to contacting under age girls online in breach of an order which restricts his use of the internet. Daniel Thorne was made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order three years ago after he tried to meet a girl who he had met through an online chat room. The order restricted his use of similar sites but he broke it by going online under a false name, Exeter Crown Court was told. Thorne, aged 26, of Prince Charles Road, Exeter, admitted three breaches of a SOPO and was remanded in custody by Assistant Judge Advocate General Alan Large to allow the probation service to prepare a pre sentence report. Mr James Rickard, defending, said Thorne was not heavily convicted and had completed a sex offenders’ programme but had gone astray after it ended. February 2012 Facebook cops pose as girl to trap child abuse images man POLICE officers posed as an 11-year-old girl as they investigated the on-line activity of 23-year-old Daniel Thorne. And the shop worker was arrested after arranging to meet the “child” after exchanging messages on Facebook. Thorne, of Prince Charles Road, did not face any offences of child grooming when he appeared before Exeter magistrates. But he did plead guilty to six charges of possessing child abuse images, including one image at Level 5. Prosecuting, Philip Sewell said: “Mr Thorne was arrested after police posing as an 11-year-old made contact with him on Facebook and they made an arrangement to meet. After his arrest his computer was seized. When interviewed, he said he had been in contact with a random male, who he did not identify, who had sent him photographs. He said he had asked for images of girls but had not specified ages.” Defending, Stephen Nunn, said it had to be made clear that his client “had not been charged with grooming and there was no evidence that offending like that had ever occurred”. He said: “He regards what he has done very seriously and has been to see a doctor as he feels there is something wrong with him.” Magistrates sentenced Thorne to serve a community order with a 36-month supervision requirement. He is also subject to a sexual offences prevention order with requirements including banning him from having contact with children except when unavoidable such as in a retail situation.