Michael Ide
Age: 80
Town: Southampton
Convicted: 22/09/2023
Southampton paedophile jailed after trip to the Philippines.
Southampton Sex Offender Sentenced for Breaching Notification Requirements
A registered sex offender from Southampton has been sentenced for failing to comply with his Sex Offenders' Register (SOR) notification requirements.
Michael Ide, 79, of Burgoyne Road, was ordered to sign the SOR in 1998 following his conviction for gross indecency with a child. As part of his SOR requirements, Ide was prohibited from traveling outside of the UK unless he notified police at least seven days before his departure.
Earlier this year, officers received information suggesting that Ide had traveled to the Philippines in April and remained there for a month without notifying them. Police attended his address, arrested him on suspicion of breaching his SOR, and conducted a search of his house under Section 32 of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
During the search, his passport was seized, revealing an arrival date in the Philippines on April 25th and a departure date of May 23rd. It was discovered that not only had Ide failed to register this travel, but he had also not registered his new passport, another requirement of his SOR.
Furthermore, analysis of Ide's mobile phone indicated that he had been using Facebook Messenger under an alias, which had not been registered with police, constituting an additional breach of his SOR.
Ide pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 months in prison when he appeared at Southampton Crown Court on Wednesday (20 September).
PC Rebecca Wilshere, from the Western Offender Management team, stated: "Ide is rightly back in prison for his blatant disregard of the conditions imposed on him. We take the management of sex offenders incredibly seriously and invest significant resources into doing everything we can to keep the public safe. Officers closely monitor sex offenders and their movements, allowing us to identify offenses such as this. We can also examine their digital devices to ensure they are sticking to the legal requirements imposed on them. These orders are put in place to protect the public and ensure that individuals do not re-offend. Where sex offenders fail to comply, as can be seen in this case, they can and will be returned to jail."