A convicted sex offender who broke the law again on the day he was released from prison — by setting up a TikTok account — is back behind bars.
Mark Innes, 31, had been sentenced at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in 2020 for four offences. Two involved sexual communication with a child while two others were revenge porn crimes.
Innes — never previously in trouble — was handed a nine-month prison term. He was also ordered, indefinitely, to comply with sex offender register requirements which barred him from setting up social media accounts.
But Carlisle Crown Court heard that on July 1 this year, police learned from Scottish counterparts that Innes was staying with his girlfriend in the Carlisle area.
He was visited and surrendered a Samsung mobile phone. This was analysed and showed Innes had accessed what was believed to be a child abuse website through Google several times on June 12. He also accessed Telegram Messenger that day.
Steven Ball, prosecuting, told the court: “Further examination of his phone revealed that he had established a number of social media accounts. The first one, TikTok, was created on the day of his release from his recall to custody on May 9.”
He had set up accounts with a username bearing no resemblance to his own, and downloaded illegal images of children — including 22 classed in category A, the most serious.
Innes admitted four counts of breaching notification requirements and three of making indecent images of children.
After considering mitigation, Recorder Kate Bex KC imposed an immediate 16-month jail term.
Innes, latterly of Crawton Ness, Cove Bay, Aberdeen, remains subject to the tough notification requirements. He must also observe 19 additional conditions as part of a separate sexual harm prevention order which was made by Recorder Bex. This will run for the next 10 years.
