A man who, as a teenager, met a 14-year-old schoolgirl for sex in a public toilet will no longer be banned for life from talking to under-16s.

Connor Buckley was given the indefinite sexual harm prevention order in 2016 after he was convicted of sexual activity with a child-under 16.

The order bans him from having any internet-enabled device, such as a computer or smartphone, unless it has been registered with the police and risk monitoring software installed. He must not delete his internet browser history and is prohibited from refusing to show a police officer his phone.

If he was to have more than ‘inadvertent’ contact with a child under-16, the child’s parent or guardian would have to know about his conviction. Social services would also have to give their approval.

Lawyers for Buckley asked for the sexual harm prevention order, which was imposed for life, to be lifted.

Adrian Amer, representing the Bicester man at Oxford Crown Court on Friday said: “We think the order now…is so onerous, so draconian, so disproportionate as to what the original matters were that it was [imposed] for, we would want them lifted in [their entirety].”

His client, who had recently become a father himself, was more mature. Mr Amer added that technology and people’s lives had moved on since 2016, meaning that what was restrictive seven years ago is ‘highly technically restrictive now’.

Tim Naik, for the Crown Prosecution Service, told Recorder John Ryder KC that the 2016 conviction related to an encounter between Buckley, then 18, and a 14-year-old girl who was on a school trip.

“She said there was some flirtation with Mr Buckley. They made an arrangement surreptitiously. She got away from the group, they met in a public toilet,” the barrister said. The pair had sex in the public conveniences which, not withstanding her age, was consensual.

Following his arrest, officers found a relatively small number of category A and C indecent images on Buckley’s mobile phone.

Since his conviction in 2016, he had been before the court a number of times including for breaches of the sexual offender notification requirements.

He was most recently before Oxford Crown Court last year, for controlling behaviour towards a former partner. His victim told the court in an impact statement that she ‘forgot how to be happy’ as a result of his actions.

Following agreement between Buckley’s lawyers and the prosecution, Recorder Ryder varied the order to last 10 years from the date of its imposition in 2016. The wording of the final provision was changed to ensure the young dad was not stopped from seeing his own children.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward