A registered sex offender who committed multiple breaches of his court order was tracked down by specialist Kent Police officers 100 miles from home.
Matthew Downing was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in January 2022 after being convicted of offences including the making of indecent images of children.
His access to the internet is strictly controlled as a result, meaning he is unable to use any phone or computer without first notifying Kent Police and allowing monitoring software to be installed.
In February 2025 officers became aware that Downing, 25, had been using such devices without permission but were unable to locate him at his home address in Salisbury Road, Dover.
He was therefore treated as a missing sex offender and within days was found sleeping in a newly-purchased car in the Surrey village of Shalford by officers from the MOSOVO (Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders) Targeting Team.
Downing was taken into custody and later charged with 13 separate offences including 10 breaches of his SHPO. These relate to his use of an anonymous web browser, an online storage device and a social media app with disappearing messages, and his failure to notify police that he had access to a smartphone, a laptop computer and two virtual computers.
He also used the dark web to make indecent images of children, and breached the terms of his notification requirements by failing to register dating app usernames.
Downing pleaded guilty to all offences when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday 10 March and has been remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing at the same court on Thursday 17 April.
Detective Sergeant Alex Walker of Kent Police said: ‘Sexual Harm Prevention Orders help to reduce the risk certain individuals may pose to the public after being released from prison, and enforcing them is a responsibility we take very seriously.
‘Our specialist officers leave no stone unturned in tracking down those we suspect of breaching their orders, and will travel as far as is necessary in order to bring them into custody and back before a court.’
