A 76-year-old man with a record of child sexual offences going back more than 30 years will be sentenced on November 19 after admitting he breached a court order by spending time with a boy living in care.
Dylan Jones, now of Bro Einon, Llanybydder, Carmarthenshire, had already pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order. He appeared at Swansea Crown Court by videolink to be sentenced, but Judge Catherine Richards adjourned the case so further information could be gathered.
The court order
Jones has been subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order since 2019. One of its conditions bars him from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16.
Concerns raised at the hospital
Prosecuting, Sian Cutter explained how staff at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen first raised the alarm. Jones was admitted on August 11, seemingly after a fall, and arrived with a boy under the age of 16. At first, staff took the youngster to be a relative.
That changed when the boy came back the next day and said he was the grandson of Jones’ cousin. Nurses grew uneasy about how the pair were behaving together. They stepped in after seeing Jones hand the child £20 and the keys to his home, began keeping a record of what they observed, and passed their concerns to police.
Police enquiries
Officers were waiting when the boy visited the hospital again on August 14, and they spoke with him. They also spoke to Jones and examined his phone, which showed calls and text messages between the two.
Further enquiries established that the boy was living in care. Neither his care home nor his mother had known about his relationship with Jones. Officers later found CCTV of the pair together at Merlin’s Walk shopping centre in Carmarthen in July.
When police spoke to the boy a second time, he told them he had known Jones for some time and that the two of them would talk about football. He said he had gone to Jones’ house with another male, whom he did not identify. He also said Jones had told him about his past, and that he did not think Jones’ convictions should be held against him.
In his police interview, Jones said the boy had told him he was 16. He denied knowing anything about a ban on him having unsupervised contact with children.
Previous convictions
The court heard Jones has four previous convictions covering 21 offences, nine of which are sexual matters:
- Convicted of buggery, gross indecency and indecent assault involving a 12-year-old boy with whom “he was in some sort of relationship”
- Sentenced to nine years in prison for indecently assaulting two boys, both under 10, in offending that involved penetration
- Sentenced to 15 months in prison for nine counts of possessing indecent images, and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order
- Sentenced to two years in prison for breaching that order, after having contact with a 13-year-old boy and giving him gifts and money
The defence
Megan Williams, representing Jones, told the court there had been a “significant change in circumstances” since the summer. She said his health had seriously deteriorated and he was now house-bound. He had also moved from Carmarthen to more suitable accommodation in the Lampeter area. She said the only people he now came into contact with were health care professionals visiting his home.
Ms Williams added that the boy’s statement to police showed he had not felt uncomfortable in Jones’ company, and that “nothing physical happened between them”.
What happens next
Judge Richards said she wanted more information from probation on whether there was a realistic alternative to immediate custody. Jones was readmitted to bail until he returns to court on November 19.
