man sent to prison after admitting attempted sexual communication with a child and numerous breaches of a court order

MAN SENT TO PRISON AFTER ADMITTING ATTEMPTED SEXUAL COMMUNICATION WITH A CHILD AND NUMEROUS BREACHES OF A COURT ORDER

Following a visit to his probation appointment in Harlow, authorities conducted investigations on Steven Finch’s electronic devices.

During the visit, officers discovered that Finch, who was residing outside his approved address, was in possession of a hidden device.

He had previously attempted to erase data from it.

As a registered sex offender, Finch had been given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order in March 2022, after a conviction related to facilitating a child sexual offence.

Members of the Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders team (MOSOVO) carried out a forensic examination of Finch’s devices.

They uncovered four violations of the court order.

These included deleting messages, establishing contact with a minor, and not reporting a new account.

From January to March 2025, Finch removed approximately 3,000 messages from his social media platforms.

In March, he also engaged in sexual communication with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.

He previously admitted to attempting sexual communication with a minor and to breaching four conditions of his order at Chelmsford Crown Court.

On Thursday, 20 November, Finch, who was in custody at HMP Bure in Norfolk, was sentenced to 44 months in prison with a further 12 months of extended licence.