LUKE ROGERS AND SHOCKING BREACHES IN PEMBROKESHIRE AND SWANSEA
Police authorities have publicly released an image of Luke Rogers, a convicted sex offender, following his recent violation of court-imposed restrictions.Rogers was found to have deliberately removed Facebook and WhatsApp applications from his mobile device and was discovered to possess a second, secret phone, which he had not disclosed to authorities.
This incident occurred in Pembrokeshire, where Rogers’s actions led to a court hearing at Swansea Crown Court last week.
During the proceedings, Judge Paul Thomas KC sentenced Rogers to a term of 16 months in prison, with the sentence for each of the two breaches to run concurrently.
The court’s decision was based on evidence that Rogers had contravened the strict conditions set by his previous convictions and court orders.
Rogers’s criminal history includes a conviction from 2020 for engaging in sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.
As part of his punishment, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison and was placed under a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
Additionally, he was required to register as a sex offender for the same duration.
These legal restrictions mandated that Rogers notify the police within three days of acquiring any device capable of internet access and prohibited him from deleting files, applications, data, or browsing history from his devices.
The breach came to light during a police interview at Haverfordwest Police Station on August 29, when Rogers admitted to deleting the Facebook app from his phone.
He explained that he had done so because he was experiencing harassment from another man.
He also confirmed that he had deleted WhatsApp and performed a factory reset on his device.
Prosecutor Hannah George told the court that Rogers’s last use of WhatsApp was on August 23, and that he had intentionally removed the application prior to the police meeting.
Following this admission, police obtained a search warrant, which led to the discovery of a second phone at Rogers’s residence.
Both his partner and grandmother verified that the second device belonged to Rogers, with his partner providing police with both of his phone numbers.
During police interviews, Rogers acknowledged that he had purchased the second phone approximately three weeks earlier and claimed that he reset his primary phone because “WhatsApp was not working.” Rogers, aged 37 and residing in Wolfscastle, has an extensive criminal record, including 16 previous convictions covering 33 offences, of which seven are sexual offences.
The court was also informed that he has a history of non-compliance with notification requirements, further complicating his case.
His legal representative, Stephan Alfred, highlighted that Rogers had not received any support or participation in a sexual offenders treatment program, which could have potentially mitigated his risk of reoffending.
The court acknowledged the pattern of breaches and the need for further assessment, adjourning the case for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Rogers was ultimately sentenced on November 8.
In addition to his prison term, the court ordered him to pay a surcharge of £156.
A forfeiture and destruction order was also issued for one of the seized phones, emphasizing the seriousness of his violations and the ongoing efforts to prevent further offences.
