A Scarborough paedophile, John Palethorpe, has been sentenced to imprisonment for violating a stringent court order prohibiting the deletion of evidence related to his internet activity.
John Palethorpe, 52, was on parole and subject to a sexual-harm prevention order following a conviction for internet sexual offences when police conducted a routine check at his residence, as shown in York Crown Court.
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison stated that John Palethorpe had removed chat or IM applications from his phone, along with multiple YouTube histories, all of which constituted a violation of the injunction.
He additionally neglected to inform the police about the establishment of new internet accounts, she stated.
John Palethorpe, of Mount View Close, Scarborough, admitted breaching the sexual-harm order and the notification requirements and appeared for sentence on Wednesday, April 5.
Ms Morrison said John Palethorpe had previous convictions including attempted sexual communication with a 12-year-old girl, attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, which resulted in a jail sentence in December 2020 and the imposition of the sexual-harm order and notification requirements.
On that occasion, John Palethorpe was snared by online “paedophile hunters” posing as children.
John Palethorpe, who is married, tried to teach the ‘girl’ how to perform a sexual act on herself and told ‘her’ he wanted to meet her.
Police monitoring officers kept a check on John Palethorpe’s internet activities after he was released from jail on licence.
They made an unannounced visit to John Palethorpe’s home last year and found that he had deleted the KIK messenger app, a Google chat app and “several Youtube histories”.
Officers also found two internet accounts, one under an alias, which John Palethorpe hadn’t notified them about, which was in breach of his notification requirements.
In a pre-sentence report by the Probation Service, John Palethorpe was described as a “high-risk offender”.
His solicitor advocate David Camidge said John Palethorpe was gripped by “substance and alcohol misuse” at the time of the offences.
He was now seeking help for his problems with mental-health and substance-abuse agencies in Scarborough.
Judge Simon Hickey said he had noted a probation officer’s assertion that John Palethorpe had engaged in “confessing and avoiding, trying to downplay these offences”.
He told John Palethorpe: “Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody because in my judgement you present a danger to the public.”
John Palethorpe was handed a 10-month jail sentence.
He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.
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