Sex offender convicted of breaching court order.

Jurors Convict Man of Breaching Sexual Offences Prevention Order

Alan Thompson, 56, of Long Wittenham, was convicted of breaching his sexual offences prevention order by having unsupervised contact with two children.

Thompson was originally given the order 15 years ago after being convicted of sexual activity with a child. The order prohibits him from having unsupervised contact with children unless he has the permission of the child's parents or the contact is "inadvertent."

CCTV footage from the hotel where Thompson was staying in November 2020 showed him driving his mobility scooter towards his ground floor room, followed by a teenage boy and girl, Oxford Crown Court heard. The pair went to the toilet while Thompson went to his bedroom.

Thompson was permitted to be with the boy, as the child's guardian was aware of his previous convictions. However, despite Thompson's claims, the girl's mother told jurors she was unaware that he was a registered sex offender.

During cross-examination on Monday, the woman was questioned about whether she knew of Thompson's past and whether she had replied to his confession of his past offending with the words: "Okay, thanks for telling me, we'll leave it in the past where it belongs." The woman maintained that she "didn't know nothing about his background."

Jurors convicted Thompson on Tuesday, February 7, of breaching his sexual offences prevention order. He will be sentenced next month, with Judge Ian Pringle KC ordering a pre-sentence report.

The maximum sentence for the offence is five years' imprisonment, although punishments vary depending on the blameworthiness of the offender and the amount of harm they have caused.