PAUL EVANS AND SHOCKING REPEATED SEX OFFENDER BREACHES IN NEATH

A convicted child sex offender, Paul Evans, was recently caught attempting to conceal a secret mobile phone during an unannounced police visit at a hotel in Neath. This is not an isolated incident; it marks the third time Evans has been found breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) that was imposed on him following prior convictions for predatory sexual conduct.

Evans, aged 55, had been legally required to report all mobile phones he owned to the authorities as part of his court-mandated restrictions. The SHPO was put in place after Evans was convicted of attempting to meet a 12-year-old girl for sex through online grooming and communication. Despite this, his compliance has been repeatedly compromised, and he has found himself in breach of these strict conditions multiple times.

On July 28 of this year, police officers responded to intelligence suggesting that Evans might be in possession of a mobile device that he had not previously disclosed. The officers attended the room he was renting in the Ambassador Hotel in the heart of Neath town centre. When they knocked on his door, Evans responded in a state of undress, claiming he had just gotten out of bed and requested additional time to dress. However, the officers grew suspicious due to the timing and Evans's behaviour and decided to enter the room.

Inside, law enforcement found Evans attempting to hide a mobile phone under his pillow. This was particularly concerning because the phone was actively being used to conduct a video call with a woman at that moment. The authorities confirmed that this device had not been registered or reported to the police as part of his legal restrictions. Consequently, Evans was arrested on suspicion of breaching his SHPO.

The court proceedings detailed Evans's extensive history of sexual offences and breaches. In 2018, he was convicted of sending hundreds of explicit messages to someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl, as well as leaving sexual voicemails on her phone, and attempting to meet her in person. His violations included engaging with a decoy account operated by paedophile hunters and arriving at a prearranged meeting location, a McDonald's in Baglan, where he was met by members of the hunter group who called the police. For these offences, Evans received a sentence of two years in prison.

Following his release, Evans continued to breach the restrictions associated with his conviction. Within months, he acquired a Motorola G7 smartphone that he concealed from authorities. His illegal activities once again came to light when staff at a local Job Centre identified his suspicious behaviour and contacted detectives. This led to him receiving an additional eight-month sentence for violating the SHPO.

Further violations occurred in October 2021, when Evans again engaged contact with a social media profile that was falsely representing itself as a 12-year-old girl — a decoy account operated by paedophile hunters. His conversations moved from social media to WhatsApp, where, despite repeated reminders of the girl's age, Evans continued to discuss sexually explicit topics, professed his love, asked for sex, and invited her to sleepovers. A planned meeting at McDonald's in Baglan led to Evans being confronted by paedophile hunters and subsequently arrested by police. His sentencing for this offence was two years and eight months in prison, with the judge expressing regret over a prosecutorial error that prevented additional sentencing considerations.

At his recent court appearance, Evans, formerly residing on Kennel Row, Briton Ferry, Neath, but now living on The Parade, Neath, pleaded guilty to breaching the SHPO. Defense representative Giles Hayes explained that after Evans's last release from prison in April, he had been living at the Ambassador Hotel and had developed a relationship with a woman, using his phone to maintain contact with her for non-criminal reasons. Nonetheless, the court took a serious view of the breaches.

Judge Catherine Richards emphasized that Evans's deliberate violation of the court orders demonstrated a high risk of causing serious harm to children and the community. Considering his prior convictions and the assessments by probation staff, the judge ordered his immediate detention in custody. The sentencing guidelines initially suggested a term of 30 months; however, with a one-third discount for his guilty plea, Evans was sentenced to 20 months in prison. He will serve up to half of this sentence before being released on license, after which he will complete his sentence in the community under supervision.