Whitehaven child sex offender jailed for accessing social media in library

Keith Edward Skillen was arrested in possession of his library card

A child sex offender who repeatedly breached a court order by using social media on a library computer has been given another prison sentence.

Keith Skillen, from Whitehaven, was banned from accessing the internet as part of a previous sentence.

He admitted using Facebook and Instagram while at Whitehaven Library and was jailed for 16 months.

Carlisle Crown Court was told the 59-year-old had been arrested "in possession of his library card".

Judge Nicholas Barker said he believed Skillen used the library computer "because you knew that your devices were being monitored at your home".

"In my view that is an aggravating feature," he said.

Impulse control

Skillen, of Brook Bank, had received a community punishment in 2015 for attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was then given two jail terms in 2018 for having and distributing indecent images of children and, as part of the second, was handed a sexual harm prevention order which banned him from possessing anything capable of accessing the internet.

But in 2021 he went on social media sites and flouted the order six times.

During an unannounced visit to his home in September, police recovered two Amazon Fire devices, which was a further breach.

Skillen's lawyer, Sean Harkin, told the court his client suffered with communication problems, neurological damage and trouble controlling his impulses following a stroke in 2006.

This had left him isolated and seeking company online, he told the court.

Skillen had not viewed anything illegal during his latest unlawful online access, he said.