Peterborough teenage sex offender jailed for second time in a year

Carmo Soriano, 19, was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Wednesday (11 November) after admitting two counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He had been released from prison in September after serving part of a 20-month sentence for the same offence, as well as breaching notification requirements of being on the sex offenders register.

All registered sex offenders living in Cambridgeshire are managed and monitored by the force’s Public Protection Unit. This includes officers carrying out unannounced visits at their home address, checking their electronic devices and speaking in detail with them about their lifestyle.

On a visit following his release from prison, officers found Soriano had used acquaintances’ smart phones to access Snapchat and Instagram to message people.

He admitted he had borrowed someone else’s phone to access the social media sites to check his messages and contact girls.

In police interview, Soriano told officers he had been in contact with a man on Snapchat who had threatened him but did not tell police about this, despite being at risk, as he knew he was not allowed to be on Snapchat or Instagram.

Soriano, of no fixed address, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register in January last year (2019) and made subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after being convicted of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

DC Sian Thomas, from the northern Public Protection Unit, said: “Soriano’s SHPO sets out that he must not have use or possess any device which can access the internet unless these devices are registered with us and made available or request for inspection.

“It also specifies that he must not have any unsupervised contact with any female child under the age of 16, other than with the consent of the child’s parent or guardian who has knowledge of his convictions and with the express approval of social services.”

In November last year (2019), evidence was obtained of Soriano staying at an address where a 10-year-old girl was present, and her parents being unaware of his convictions, a direct breach of his SHPO. He had also failed to inform police of alias names and details of an address where he had been staying.

Soriano was sentenced in May this year (2020) to 20 months in prison but had been on remand since his arrest at the end of last year, resulting in his early release in September this year. Read more about his previous sentencing on the force website here.

DC Thomas added: “Soriano created concerns from the start, however, through regular visits and a robust approach by our team throughout the last year, we were able to identify several breaches of his SHPO which resulted in these two convictions and prison sentences.”