Kettering child sex offender jailed for three years
The 36 year admitted to breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order and making indecent images of a child
A 36-year-old man from Kettering has been sentenced to 44 months in prison after admitting to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and making indecent images of a child.
Mark Anthony Sinclair was initially issued with a SHPO in January 2024 at Wood Green Crown Court following a conviction for a sexual offence involving a child under 16.
The 10-year order included specific conditions such as not deleting his internet history and avoiding unsupervised contact with any child under 18.
Despite these restrictions, Sinclair engaged with what he believed to be a 12-year-old girl in an online chat room last May, moving the conversation to a private messaging app. Unbeknownst to him, the profile belonged to an operation aimed at safeguarding children from online predators.
Evidence of Sinclair's breach was passed to Northamptonshire Police’s MOSOVO team, leading to his arrest on May 21st. A subsequent investigation of his mobile phone revealed indecent images of children.
Sinclair was charged with multiple offences including breaching his SHPO, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and making indecent photographs of a child.
Sinclair pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 44 months in prison and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
PC Holly Morgan-Humphrey from the Force’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT), who led the investigation, explained the seriousness of Sinclair's actions:
"Mark Sinclair thought he was sending private messages of a sexual nature to an unknown 12-year-old girl he befriended in an online chat room."
"Although thankfully there was not a real child in this case, it does not lessen the seriousness of it at all as the content of his messages were not only extremely concerning but also showed a total disregard for the court order put in place to protect children from him."