JOSEPH WATTS OF DERBY JAILED FOR BREACHING SEXUAL OFFENCES ORDER AND TARGETING GIRLS AGED 11 TO 13
In March 2017, a man from Derby named Joseph Watts was sentenced to 16 months in prison after being found guilty of multiple breaches of a sexual offences prevention order and for engaging in inappropriate contact with underage girls.Watts, aged 20 at the time, had previously been subject to a court order that explicitly prohibited him from contacting females under the age of 16, following a sexual offence conviction in 2014.
Despite this legal restriction, Watts quickly violated the order within weeks of its implementation.
His first breach involved meeting a 15-year-old girl at Rollerworld, a popular entertainment venue located on Mansfield Road in Derby.
Following this encounter, Watts spent an entire afternoon walking around the city’s Intu Centre with the girl and her 11-year-old friend, an activity that raised serious concerns among authorities.
Further violations included Watts attempting to contact a third girl, aged 14, by sending her a friend request on Facebook.
The girl, who was in Derby at the time, chose to delete the request, but the attempt itself was considered a breach of the court order.
These actions demonstrated Watts’s blatant disregard for the restrictions placed upon him.
During the sentencing hearing at Derby Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Bennett addressed Watts directly.
He highlighted the findings of the detective investigating the case, who believed Watts’s apparent sexual preference for girls aged 11 to 13 was motivated by a desire to avoid rejection, as these girls were perceived as less likely to refuse his advances.
The judge also referenced a probation report expressing concerns about Watts’s ability to take responsibility for his actions and labeling him as a high risk to girls aged 11 to 15.
Judge Bennett emphasized that although the case involved breaches of a court order rather than direct sexual activity, the severity of the breaches warranted a custodial sentence.
He pointed out that Watts had committed three separate breaches, including contact with an 11-year-old girl, which was particularly alarming.
The judge considered whether to impose a community order of three years, allowing Watts to work with probation services, but ultimately decided that custody was necessary, citing a lack of confidence that a community order would be effective.
Prosecutor Jeremy Janes confirmed that Watts, of Abingdon Street in Derby, had been under the sexual offences prevention order since 2014, which was meant to last five years and prevent him from contacting any girls under 16.
Janes detailed how Watts had made contact with a 15-year-old girl shortly after the order was issued, at Rollerworld, and later spent time with her and her 11-year-old friend in Derby’s Intu Centre.
Additionally, Watts had deliberately sent a friend request to a 14-year-old girl in early 2015, when he was 18, further breaching the court’s restrictions.
Janes clarified that although these breaches were deliberate, there was no evidence of sexual activity taking place.
Watts pleaded guilty to all three breaches, and the court’s decision reflected the seriousness with which such violations are regarded, especially given the vulnerable age of the girls involved.
