June 2023 Convicted Leeds paedophile searched for ‘animal porn’ on phone he told police he didn’t have A persistent sex offender says he “holds his hands up” after he was found to be hiding a mobile phone inside a sock when police searched his home. Liam Hunter, 29, was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order – due to end in 2025 – in 2019 after he was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and meeting a girl under the age of 16 following sexual grooming. Hunter was jailed for three-and-a-half years and released, but was still subject to the order which means he had to tell police if he acquires a device that is capable of accessing the internet within three days. Prosecutor Austin Newman told Leeds Crown Court on Friday that Hunter was visited at his home in Harehills by his police offender manager on February 28 this year and was asked about his possession of any devices capable of accessing the internet. Mr Newman said: “He denied having any, saying he was waiting for the probation service to supply him with a phone. Shortly after, a mobile phone fell from his pocket, only his table. It was seized by the officer and it was apparent it was a smart phone capable of accessing the internet. He was asked why he lied and said he had only got the phone that day but this was plainly another lie.” When officers viewed the search history of the phone, there was a search history going back to February 18. An examination of the device showed Hunter had searched the internet using the term “animal porn.” Mr Newman told the court Hunter was arrested and during that arrest he indicated he wanted to take some clothing with him. A search was carried out and another mobile phone was found inside one of his socks. During his interview, the court was told, he made “full and frank admissions.” He went on to plead guilty to two breaches of the sexual harm prevention order. Representing himself, Hunter said: “I’d just like to apologise for my behaviour. I fully admit it and hold my hands up. I was wrong and that’s why I thought I didn’t need a defence.” Hunter told the judge he “fully respects” his decision and added: “There’s nothing more I can really say.” His Honour Judge Batty jailed him for 20 months and said he will be released on licence halfway through the sentence. December 2019 Man groomed vulnerable underage girl for sex A man who groomed a vulnerable underage girl despite being warned off by police has been jailed. Liam Stanley Hunter, 25, knew her real age when he stayed with the girl’s family under a false name and slept with her. As soon as her parents found out his real name, they drove him to a police station, said Nick Adlington, prosecuting. In the car, he texted her saying: “Say I had nowhere to go and you told me you turned 16 in April get washed and wash yourself.” He had Viagra tablets and DNA evidence showed he had had sex with her, Mr Adlington told York Crown Court. After Hunter was released on bail, the 15-year-old girl went missing and her father found her with Hunter at the local bus station. Hunter, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child and meeting a child following sexual grooming. He was jailed for three and a half years, made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for six years and put on the sex offenders’ register for life. The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, said it was persistent offending and it was obvious what would have happened but for the girl’s father finding the pair at the bus station. Mr Adlington said social workers had identified the girl as vulnerable to sexual exploitation when she was 12 or 13 years old. She met Hunter through Facebook last year. Northumbrian police officers told Hunter her real age when they found her with him in South Shields after she had been missing for four days from her North Yorkshire home in Spring this year. But he kept in contact with her and stayed at her home in the summer. She had refused to co-operate with police over Hunter’s prosecution.