A sex offender from Newport has been incarcerated after being discovered in possession of obscene photos of minors, several months after having been granted clemency from incarceration for a similar offence.
James Snowden, residing on Chepstow Road, received a suspended sentence and was mandated to register as a sex offender in September 2022 following his conviction for multiple crimes related to the possession of indecent photographs of children.
On November 29, sex offender officers paid a visit to Snowden’s home and inspected his devices to check he was complying with the order.
Snowden’s Samsung Galaxy phone was checked, and the officers found he had logged into an image sharing site on November 4, 5, and 9 – and that its history showed “at least one video” had been shared, prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins said.
Ms Smith-Higgins told Newport Crown Court that Snowden had also created a server on the messaging service Discord, which he told officers he used to “create a chatroom with polyamorous couples”.
Further examinations of his devices revealed 38 computer-generated images which depicted penetrative and non-penetrative sex between adults and children.
Snowden was arrested on January 4 at Newport Police Station.
He told officers his failure to follow the sexual harm prevention order was “the result of misunderstanding” the order, Ms Smith-Higgins said, though he later pleaded guilty to all charges.
In mitigation, Alex Greenwood told the court that Snowden had been arrested before the courses he had been ordered to complete to help rehabilitate him had begun.
“The Horizon course was due to take place five days after the defendant was arrested,” he said.
Mr Greenwood added Snowden had attended “47 of the 55 appointments” required as part of his suspended sentence, and “had excuses for all bar one of the others”.
Snowden suffers with anxiety and depression, Mr Greenwood said, and referring to his offending, said: “He has an underlying issue clearly”.
Recorder John Philpotts sentenced 26-year-old Snowden to nine months in prison each for two breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and possession of a prohibited image of a child – running concurrently.
He was also jailed for a further nine months – running consecutively – for breaching a suspended sentence.
Snowden was ordered to re-register as a sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a new sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
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