Sex offender facing jail after breaching sexual harm prevention order and trying to meet woman and her children
A Wearside sex offender who used an online alias to try to meet a mum and her children but was uncovered by his own fiancé is facing jail.
Aiden Mills, 25, of Derwent Street, Easington Lane, registered himself online as ‘James25’ and used that name to chat to the unsuspecting woman.
Mills – placed on the sex offenders register in 2022 after being caught with indecent images of children – asked her if he could visit her at home when youngsters were present, a court heard.
But his girlfriend discovered his twisted deception and approached the mother at a bus stop and tipped her off, prosecutor Glenda Beck said.
His planned deceit led his shocked victim-to-be to contact police, who checked his devices and found him also registered under a second alias, ‘AL769XC’ .
At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, he admitted two counts of breaching the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, on Monday, April 14, and Wednesday, May 7.
He also pleaded guilty to one count of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) on Sunday, May 4.
District Judge Zoe Passfield remanded him into custody to be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday, June 19.
Mrs Beck said: “Mr Mills is currently managed in the community but is classed as very high risk.
“On May 11 a witness reported her concerns to police. She said that she had been communicating online with 'James25' via Tinder and later WhatsApp.
“He made three attempts to come to her house, where her two children were present.
“She was later approached by a female at a bus stop. She was told that the person she thought was James25 was her fiancée.
“Screenshots from their conversation were shown to his manager. Checks were made and there was no register of James25.”
After his May offence, police checked Mills’ phone and found a further breach of his responsibilities under the notification requirements.
He had registered another username ‘AL769XC’ on social media site Snapchat on April 14, again without telling police.
Mills was sentenced at Durham Crown Court in October 2022 on charges of making indecent photos or pseudo-photos of children and possession of extreme pornography.
He was made subject to a community order and the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and given a SHPO, both for five years.
The notification requirements include him having to inform police within three days of registering any alias online.
Mrs Beck said Mills also breached his SHPO by setting up a personal setting on Snapchat which allowed him to delete his chat conversations.
And she revealed he had previously breached the notification requirements and the SHPO both at least twice.
Ben Hurst, defending, who made no application for bail, said of Mills: “He’s well aware that this will be a custodial sentence.”
Remanding Mills, Judge Passfield told him: “You will be given credit for your early guilty pleas but your case is too serious for this court.”