A REGISTERED sex offender has avoided jail after attempting to message underage girls due to his learning disabilities.

Thomas Bowden, 31, of Southcote Road in Reading, avoided jail after his sentencing hearing at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday (September 6) despite several breaches of a sexual harm prevention orders (SHPO).

The 31-year-old was given a three-year community order for two counts of possessing a prohibited image of a child and one count of attempted sexual communication with a child as Judge Emma Nott stated a custodial sentence would not be beneficial.

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“All of these offences are serious offences,” she said. “I would normally send you to prison. I do think you’re high risk but…I don’t think that [prison] would do you any good.”

The court heard that between September 22, 2021 and September 27, 2021, Bowden exchanged sexual messages between whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl called Sophie and a 13-year-old girl called Molly.

He was using the username ‘Boomboom9009’ and attempted to arrange a meeting with Sophie in Prospect Park.

However, Sophie was actually a fake account by Net Justice members who reported the 31-year-old to the police. Molly was actually an officer as part of the East Midlands Specialist Operations Unit.

Upon arrest, he was found with 40 prohibited Manga images of children.

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Bowden was immediately sent to prison after his arrest as he was on licence from a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed to him in January 2021 for making indecent images of children and breaching a SHPO.

He was released in March this year but was yet to be sentenced for the breach of the SHPO and the new charges committed in June while on licence.

Prosecuting Margia Mostafa stated Bowden was first convicted in 2015 for causing a child to engage in sexual activity and had similar charges again in 2016, 2017 and again in 2021.

Defending Bowden, his barrister explained that Bowden has learning disabilities, autism and has had psychosis in the past.

Sentencing, Judge Nott said: “You’re back in Crown Court again for trying to speak to children sexually.

“You know you’re not allowed to that as you’ve been told not to do that and you’ve been to prison for that.

“If you don’t stop that you’re going to spend more and more time in prison.”

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Wearing a white shirt and facing the floor, Bowden murmured ‘yes’ when asked by Judge Nott if he was ‘going to try’ with his community order and not re-offend.