A registered sex offender who admitted breaching his notification requirements five times when he stayed at addresses, including his own home, where children were present has been sent to Taunton Crown Court to be sentenced.
David John Reynolds spent a number of nights at a family member’s house, and stayed at a different address belonging to a friend.
On other dates the police discovered that children had been staying at the defendant’s own address and had failed to notify them.
The 30-year-old defendant, of Sherborne Road, Yeovil, appeared before Somerset Magistrates facing five allegations.
He pleaded guilty that between March 27 and May 3 at an address in Templecombe, being a relevant offender within the terms of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and subject to a notification order, he failed to comply with the notification requirements in that he failed to notify that he had stayed at an address where two children resided within three days of his stay there.
He also admitted a similar offence on December 21 last year by failing to notify the police that two children had stayed at his home address for more than 12 hours.
He also admitted on January 5 at Yeovil that he failed to notify the police within three days of a stay of 12 hours or more at an address where a child under the age of 18 years resides or stayed.
A further similar offence on March 4 where he stayed at an address in Gillingham in excess of seven days and failed to notify the police of that stay within three days was also admitted.
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Reynolds also pleaded guilty to a fifth charge that on April 4 at Yeovil, being a relevant offender, he failed to notify the police within three days of receipt of a Barclays visa debit card.
The case had been adjourned for a pre sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.
However the magistrates said they felt the case was so serious that Reynolds deserved greater punishment than they could impose.
As a result they ordered him to be committed to Taunton Crown Court to be sentenced on July 7.
Prosecutor Emma Lenanton said that Reynolds’ original conviction back in July 2014 was for a sexual assault on a male and he was sent to prison for 12 months and made subject to the Sex Offenders notification requirements.
“There are significant aggravating features in this case including the fact that there were five breaches and two families were involved with a total of eight children between them,” she said.
“These were deliberate behaviours on the defendant’s part as he was well aware of the notification requirements he was subject to.”
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Defending solicitor Sam Morton said that Reynolds accepted he had made a mistake but said it was not deliberate.
“One of the offences involved children staying at his address over the New Year period and it only came about because he phoned the police himself to report some antisocial behaviour and they discovered five children staying at his address,” he said.
“He now understands the requirements and accepts he has breached them, but it was not deliberate and he wants to comply with them in the future.”
In adjourning the case the magistrates released Reynolds on bail with conditions that he must not contact named people directly or indirectly including through social media and not to attend a specified address in Gillingham.