STEPHEN OWEN, BUCKS OFFENDER, JAILED OVER SEXUAL OFFENCES AND ONLINE MISCONDUCT
The mugshot of Stephen Owen, a 60-year-old sex offender from Kidlington, Oxfordshire, has been released following his sentencing for multiple breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and inappropriate online conduct.Owen was sentenced to three years and two months in prison on Friday, 11 February, at Amersham Law Courts.
During the hearing, he admitted to four counts of violating the terms of his sexual harm prevention order, which was originally issued after Owens was convicted of producing indecent images of children.
The order, issued for ten years, prohibited him from downloading private messaging apps without police approval and from using fake identities online.
Despite the court’s restrictions, Owen broke the order immediately after it was granted, by downloading the dating and hookup app Fab Swingers, which is used for sexual communications and encounters.
On this app, he posted a message asking, “anyone want BJ?”.
The court also heard that after meeting a man for a sexual encounter, Owen attempted to engage him by asking if he wanted to see sexual images of children.
The man declined and reported Owen to the authorities concerning this proposition.
Between June 6, 2021, and October 2, 2021, Owen further breached the order multiple times by downloading and using messaging features on apps including WhatsApp, Tinder, Snapchat, and Badoo.
At the same time, Owen was participating in a rehabilitation programme aimed at educating him on the harms of sexual offending.
However, Justice Catherine Tulk expressed her displeasure with Owen’s conduct, stating, “What is really troubling me is that his probation report is really positive.
He was a star worker.
But all the time he was doing that he was offending.
While on the face of it he was complying with it, when one looks at it, it’s clear it was not genuine.” Owen was sentenced to 22 months in prison, and his previous 16-month suspended sentence was also triggered by these breaches.
Justice Tulk emphasized the serious nature of his conduct, despite his apparent efforts to rehabilitate.
