A 28-year-old registered sex offender from Colchester, Michael Vinson, who violated the conditions of a suspended prison sentence shortly after its issuance, has been sentenced to 26 months in prison.
On June 16 of the previous year, Michael Vinson received a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, following a month-long dialogue with an undercover police officer who claimed to have two nieces aged seven and ten.
In their correspondence on the Kik messaging application, Michael Vinson expressed his sexual interests and solicited photographs as well as children’s pants, as shown before Ipswich Crown Court.
Nevertheless, the court was informed that there was no evidence indicating Michael Vinson had boarded a train or purchased a train ticket to meet the imaginary girls, and he had also provided an excuse to the undercover officer regarding his inability to meet them.
Michael Vinson, of Axial Close, Colchester, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court last year to attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence in 2021.
He also admitted possessing two extreme pornographic still images and four videos depicting a person performing sex acts with an animal.
Michael Vinson was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to 200 hours unpaid work.
He was also given a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to take part in a sex offenders’ treatment programme.
Michael Vinson was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for the same period.
On Thursday (April 20) Michael Vinson admitted breaching the suspended sentence order by breaching the sexual harm prevention order and the sex offenders’ registration requirements by staying with a couple and their five-year-old daughter in Yorkshire between July 20-23 last year without telling them he was a registered sex offender and failing to notify the police of a change in his address after he’d been there for more than 12 hours.
Richard Kelly for Michael Vinson said his client had become a social pariah since details of his court appearance last year were published last year and his mental health had deteriorated.
He said the impact of a prison sentence on Michael Vinson would be significant.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 111 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.