December 2014 Pervert who avoided prison after sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl lied to police about his address A CHILD sex offender lied to the police about where he was living after he was spared jail for molesting a 13-year-old girl he groomed on Facebook. And Michael Smith, who is also known as Michael King, moved into a house where children lived despite being expressly banned from doing so. But despite hearing the string of offences put the 24-year-old in breach of the suspended sentence, a judge at Swindon Crown Court said he would not activate it. Instead he jailed Smith for four months for the new offences meaning he will be out in a few weeks as he has already spent a month in custody on remand. Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told how he was put on a one year suspended sentence for sexual assault on September 19, under the name Michael King. As a result of the offence he was obliged to register as a sex offender and provide the police with details of where he was living. He told them he was residing with his stepfather on Wheeler Avenue, Stratton, but when officers checked a couple of weeks later the occupants said they had no connection to him. A few days later the police received information that he was staying at a house on Avebury Road, Penhill, where a woman lived with three children who are under 16 When they spoke to him he said he had got the house number wrong on Wheeler Avenue but when his stepfather was spoken to he said he hadn’t lived with him. After his offender manager arranged him a bed at the Salvation Army hostel, Booth House, for a few nights, he said he would be sleeping at a friend’s house in Seagry Court, Penhill. But that householder also told police he was not living with him and Smith was again tracked down and arrested. When he was questioned he admitted giving the wrong address in Wheeler Road and that he had been staying in the house with children for three weeks. Smith pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual offences prevention order and four counts of failing to comply with the notification requirement as a sex offender. Miss Hingston said he had been put on a 12 month jail term suspended for two years for the sex assault on a child he met online. He had already met the girl once before when they got together in Moredon and he put his hand down her trousers. She said he was also awaiting sentence at the magistrates court after admitting a charge of harassment against his former partner. Rob Ross, defending, said his client had problems with accommodation after he was sentenced in September. As a result of the hearing he lost his job and his partner, with whom he has a child, ceased to be supportive of him. He said he would have to make a fresh start when he is released but has yet to start the Thames Valley Sex Offender Programme on the suspended sentence. Jailing him for four months Judge Peter Blair QC said it meant he would be released in about a month, with the suspended sentence continuing. September 2014 Swindon man who groomed and sexually assaulted a 13 year old girl avoids prison sentence A MAN who groomed and sexually assaulted a vulnerable 13-year-old girl he had met on Facebook has avoided jail. Michael King put his hand down the child’s trousers and indecently touched her after the pair met in person for the second time. But after hearing the 24-year-old dad is immature for his age and was “stupid, rather than a pervert”, a judge imposed a suspended sentence. Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court the victim, who was in care at the time, met King through mutual Facebook friends. She said they messaged each other via the social network, where he used the name Michael Smith, and agreed to meet up in person. “Michael King told her he was 20 years old and looking for a relationship. She told him she was 13 and at school and in foster care,” she said. “Her initial view of Michael King at the time was he was nice and didn’t try anything.” They continued to correspond and agreed to meet for a second time on February 27 when he kissed the child and she said after she kissed him back he “got weird”. Miss Squire said: “He did something to her that she didn’t want him to do and she didn’t give him consent. He put his hand in her jeans.” As she resisted, he told her, “Please babe, just five minutes, you can play with me,” but after he touched her improperly she walked off and went home, the court heard. The next day she sent him a message online saying ‘I didn’t want to do that last night’. Miss Squire said: “This was a 13-year-old girl arranging, unwisely, to meet someone but didn’t consent to what happened.” King, of The Prinnels, admitted sexual assault. Rob Ross, defending, said his client was an unsophisticated young man with “not the greatest learning ability”. He said the girl looked and behaved older than her years. “There is this obsession with trying to behave like adults and he was stupid enough to do something stupid. Frankly he is a stupid young man rather than a pervert.” At the time of the offending he said he had split from his girlfriend but they are back together and have a child. Mr Ross said King has a job with Taylor Wimpey where he probably had work for the next three years. Passing sentence, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: “Any case which involves any form of sexual penetration of a 13-year-old girl is a very serious matter and is rightly regarded as such by the courts. “The level of offending that you have accepted in this case has put you in a position where potentially you could receive a prison sentence of up to four years. “This is a serious offence. There is a suggestion that you groomed her. Mr Ross asks me not to come to that conclusion but I am satisfied, not for a long period, that you did groom her and gained her trust. Then, for your own sexual gratification, have this activity with her. “I am satisfied she ended up doing something she didn’t really want to do. “You are someone who lacks a certain amount of maturity and who did not have a full awareness of what you were actually doing.” He imposed a 12-month jail term suspended for two years and told him he must complete a Thames Valley Sex Offenders Programme. King must also register as a sex offender and be subject to a sexual offence prevention order for five years.