Northumberland sex offender said he was a “marked man” after speaking to a “12-year-old” on Valentine’s Day

A sex offender was warned he was a “marked man” after breaching a court order aimed at controlling his deviant behavior on Valentine's Day.

Paul Carmon was given a community order for attempted child abuse in 2018. As a result, he was required to undergo sex offender registration, one of the conditions of which was that he could not use pseudonyms.

But on February 14 this year he used the names Paul Nook and Paul Smith when speaking online to what appeared to be a 12-year-old girl who was actually a mock profile of a police officer. The conversation took place on Chat Avenue and Snapchat.

Carmon, 43, of Wynyard Drive, Bedlington, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to breaching reporting requirements by using the pseudonyms but there was no suggestion he had sexually communicated with the profile. Record holder Tony Hawks, speaking at Newcastle Crown Court, said: “He is doing his best to be locked up.”

The judge sentenced him to a six-month suspended sentence of two years with rehabilitation and he must sign the sex offenders register for seven years. Recorder Hawks told him: “You have a serious problem. If you don’t deal with it, you’ll go to prison, you understand?”

“I read a report about you that said you followed your community order well, but the basic purpose of that order was to stop you from communicating with underage girls. They did it again.”

“You are a branded man, Mr. Carmon, do you understand that? You won't get away with it, so you need to sit down with the professionals and come up with a strategy to stop doing it, unless you want to go to prison.

“I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but the next time this happens, there will inevitably be immediate custody.”

Vic Laffey, defending, said: “He is an intelligent man and he acted somewhat recklessly.”