A sex offender was caught with an illegal smartphone after police noticed he had left the charger plugged in.
Ronald Young has multiple sexual offence convictions, including being caught twice in five months by undercover “paedophile hunter” groups after he went to Newcastle to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Former bus driver Young was hit with a sexual harm prevention order (SOPO) but has recorded multiple breaches of the public protection measure.
His latest came after suspicious police found a Samsung phone stuffed behind a microwave in his Montrose home.
Serial sex offender had illegal device in Montrose home
Young is supposed to tell the authorities about any communications device he has.
But Dundee Sheriff Court was told officers performing an unannounced spot-check on the predator noticed a white charging cable plugged into the wall, which Young claimed had been there “for a while”.
An investigation involving examination of his Tesco Clubcard found he had purchased top-ups for an unregistered O2 number, which was linked to a Samsung smart phone.
He had previously disclosed owning a Nokia phone, which was unable to search the internet.
As officers continued searching, they found a Muama portable Wi-Fi device shoved in the pocket of a jumper.
Fiscal depute Christine Allan said: “The accused was released from Perth prison in July 2022.
“He has four previous convictions on indictment.
“On his release, police went through the conditions of his sexual harm order with him.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown sentenced Young, of HMP Perth, to a further year in custody, backdated to April this year.
Continual offender
In 2014, Young was convicted for sending explicit messages involving bestiality to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl he befriended online before making the 200-mile journey to Tyneside to meet her.
The 63-year-old, who claimed on the chat site he was just 18 and called himself ‘sportsteacher’, had been tricked by vigilantes known as Dark Justice who were waiting at Newcastle’s Central Station when he arrived.
The former bus driver was again convicted of a sexual crime when he was found with a mobile phone under his mattress – his fourth SOPO breach.
He had been using the device to have sexually graphic conversations with children and teenagers.
Young also travelled to London to meet with another person he believed to be a child, who again turned out to be a vigilante group.
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