Lorry driver Robert Bevan spent years deceiving police about his domestic arrangements, allowing him to frequent schools, parks, and children’s parties despite being subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) designed to restrict his access to children. Throughout this period, other parents remained unaware of his past.
Swansea Crown Court heard that while there is no suggestion Bevan has sexually offended since his last sentence in 2011, he consistently lied to police and his offender manager about his living situation. The judge, in sentencing Bevan, stated he had deliberately withheld information and must now face the consequences.
Prosecutor Harry Dickens outlined Bevan’s history of sexual offences, starting in 2007 when he was sentenced for engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13. His criminal activities continued with convictions in 2009 for engaging in sexual activity with a child, taking indecent images of a child, exposure, and outraging public decency. In 2011, he was convicted for further acts of exposure and outraging public decency. As a result, Bevan is subject to a lifelong SHPO and is a registered sex offender.
The court was told that around seven years ago, Bevan began a long-term relationship with a woman he met on a dating website. During this period, he regularly participated in school runs, visited parks and soft play areas, and attended children’s parties. Despite being monitored by a sexual offender manager for 14 years, Bevan never disclosed his new domestic situation or that he had become a father. There is no indication of any new sexual offences since his last conviction.
Bevan’s breach of the SHPO came to light in April this year when police made unannounced visits to an address he had registered in Swansea. Although Bevan was not at home, he spoke to officers on the phone, claiming he was only there infrequently due to his job as a long-distance lorry driver. Bevan was required to provide a list of places where he was “tramping” – sleeping overnight as part of his job – and police subsequently searched his vehicle. Officers discovered children’s toys and letters addressed to his mother’s house. A search of his mother’s property revealed bedrooms with children’s beds and drawers full of children’s clothes.
Robert Bevan, aged 36, of St Helen’s Road, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offenders registration scheme. He has six previous convictions for 27 offences, 22 of which are sexual offences.
