Tinder date left with baby was a child sex offender

A single mum who left a man she met on dating app Tinder alone with her new baby later found out he was a sex offender convicted of downloading child porn, a court heard.
Burnley Magistrates' CourtBurnley Magistrates' Court
Burnley Magistrates' Court

Former soldier Ashley Brynes, 30, was flouting a suspended jail term when he spent time at the woman's home in Greater Manchester.

He was banned from unsupervised contact with youngsters by a sexual harm prevention order. Brynes was also on the sex offenders' register, and was supposed to tell police of any address he stayed at for 12 hours or more if there was a child under 18 living there, but didn't, Burnley Magistrates' Court was earlier told.

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The hearing was told Brynes, who is said to have post traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, knew there was a child at the property before he went round as the mother had been "upfront" about having a four-month-old infant and he allowed himself to be alone with the baby.

The woman found out about his conviction when she "Googled" his name and found a newspaper report on the case.

Brynes, who was given the suspended sentence at Burnley Crown Court last September 2nd, has been locked up for a total of 14 months, after he admitted breaching the sexual harm prevention order on February 1st and failing to comply with the notification requirements of the register, between February 1st and 2nd.

The defendant, of Simpson Street, Hapton, had been committed to the crown court for sentence by the magistrates and was jailed by Recorder John Jones, QC.

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Mrs Alex Mann (prosecuting at the lower court) had told the bench Brynes had pleaded guilty to nine offences of making an indecent photo of a child at the crown court, after images were found on his mobile phone in 2014.

Brynes and the woman met in a bar and then for the second time at her home.

Mrs Mann added: "She says the defendant stayed for the evening and stayed overnight and they spent some time together the next day. During that period of time, on two occasions, she allowed him to have sole, unsupervised contact with her child, for about 10 minutes while she was in the shower and the second time she went upstairs and dried her hair."

Mr Mark Williams (defending) had told the earlier hearing: "I accept he knew there was a child there and she had been upfront about that. He accepts his culpability."