A “HIGHLY manipulative” sex offender with a “disturbing history” has been put behind bars.

Jaden Blythe has shown “no motivation” to stop his sexual activity and the public “needs to be protected” from him, a court heard.

The 23-year-old was caught trying to meet a teenage girl for sex.

However, he was in fact speaking to a decoy account. 

He committed the offences while subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) he was given in December 2020 for sexual activity with a girl under 16.

Blythe, now of Bembrook Road in Hastings, had been living in the Bournemouth area at the time of the offence.

He used fake social media accounts and advertised himself as being the owner of a fun fair and ex-army.

Early in July, he spoke with a girl over Facebook who made it clear ‘she’ was 14 years old.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Charlie Gabb said Blythe quickly began “grooming” the girl.

The pair moved to talking on WhatsApp and he asked her to be his girlfriend and told her “love you”.

He then spoke to the girl about having sex and other sexual activity with her, before a date to meet at his address was agreed.

After around a week of talking, the defendant stopped all conversation with the girl and moved to Hastings without telling police about his change of address.

When he was arrested at the end of July he was living in a household where he described himself as being a “carer” for a new girlfriend.

Blythe also “denied all knowledge” of speaking to the 14-year-old and came up with a “complete pack of lies”, the court heard.

In June, and prior to these offences, a probation officer had met with him and gone through his phone as part of routine checks under the SHPO.

The officer had seen an app containing ‘multiple messages’ on the defendant’s phone and reported this to police.

When police seized the phone, the app had been deleted, and Blythe said he deleted it to “make space ”.

Mr Gabb said: “He thought he could get away with it by simply deleting it, but the technology [betrayed] him.”

Mitigating, Rosa Bennathan said Blythe had “significant adverse childhood experiences” and a “low maturity” level that may have contributed to his offending.

Ms Bennathan added that her client had ended the conversation with the 14-year-old and “didn’t persist”.

She said the messages were “very unsophisticated and blunt” and showed “no significant degree of planning”.

Blythe appeared at crown court on Friday, September 6, charged with breaching an SHPO, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and arranging sexual activity with a child.

Judge Susan Evans KC said: “What stands out from the probation report is that you are a highly manipulative individual.

“You lack empathy, and you have no motivation to stop the sexual activity.

“You have repeatedly breached court orders.

“I do take the view that you take the risk of committing further specified offences. Plainly, the public need to be protected from you.”

Blythe was jailed for 81 months and will be subject to a 36-month licence on release.