Sex offender who kissed a young girl outside a cafe breached Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

A sex offender appeared in court days before Christmas, dressed as an elf.

Janiel Verainer, 60, was allowed to sit next to a helper in the public gallery rather than in the dock at Maidstone Crown Court. She was dressed in a red and green seasonal outfit, a woollen cardigan with a Santa Claus badge, and a red and green elf-like cap. Bells jangled from the costume as Verainer walked into court.

Verainer, of High Street, Chatham, admitted to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). The court heard that between December 18, 2019, and January 31, 2020, Verainer approached two children and kissed them on the lips. This was in breach of an order imposed at Canterbury Crown Court in November 2016, which prohibited Verainer from being around children.

Details of the breaches were not outlined in court. Judge Philip St-John Stevens adjourned sentencing until February 25, 2020, to allow for a probation report and a psychiatric report to be prepared. Three other charges of failing to comply with the SHPO will remain on file.

At an earlier hearing, Verainer had denied the charges, appearing in pigtails and sucking a dummy. In November 2016, Verainer was reprimanded by a judge for sitting in the dock during a case and hugging a large doll. Judge Adele Williams told Verainer's defense barrister, Paul Hogben, that such behavior was "totally inappropriate" and would not be tolerated for the rest of the hearing.

On that occasion, Verainer, who asked to be called Jorven Seren and claimed to identify as a five-year-old girl, was jailed for 15 months for kissing a girl outside a cafe in Thanet. At the time, indecent images were found on Verainer's phone. Psychiatrists concluded that Verainer had personality problems but no mental health issues.