Convicted paedophile Peter Crawford, 50, was caught near schoolchildren with a ‘large bag of sweets’ but has avoided jail – despite breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order
A convicted paedophile who was caught near schoolchildren with a “large bag of sweets” has avoided jail for breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Peter Crawford, 50, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching the order and was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years at Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast earlier this month. The verdict comes despite him living just yards from a home for vulnerable adults and children, reports the Belfast Telegraph. The disgraced civil servant, from north Belfast, previously entered guilty pleas to two counts of breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (Sopo), having initially intended to contest it.
He broke the order on October 26 and November 9 last year by being within 100 metres of children, including at a cultural hub on the same street.
Staff told police he was acting suspiciously near a children’s play area, and officers found the bag of sweets during a search. Crawford’s lawyer admitted he should not have been there, adding he has no social circle and the centre “encourages people to get out of the house.”
The Sopo bars him from being near places where children are educated or playing.
Crawford, who was first convicted in 2004 for possessing hundreds of sickening images of child abuse, has previously breached the order by downloading further illegal images and visiting family areas.
At his last hearing in June, his address was listed as a flat on Rosemount Gardens, within 100 metres of the Mater Dei home for vulnerable families.
The accommodation is operated by the Depaul homelessness charity and houses up to 13 adults and their children.
A spokesman for the PSNI said the matter was looked into, but investigators concluded he was not in breach of his Sopo by living at the address. “A report was made to police concerning a potential breach of a Sopo on Friday morning, 20th June.
Following investigation, it was determined that on this occasion, the circumstances of the report made to police did not breach this order,” they said.
In June, Crawford was handed a four-month suspended sentence after he was found with more indecent images by cops who attended his home to check he was complying with his Sopo.
A judge said during his sentencing that it was likely Crawford would be jailed if he offended again in the next two years.
He was jailed for 18 months in 2004 for downloading over 300 indecent images of children.