A PAEDOPHILE set up a fake online identity, contacted a 12-year-old girl and started seeing a woman with a child after his release from prison.

Convicted child rapist Louis Beagen, 27, from Newport, used a bogus Instagram account and trawled dating websites, prosecutor Nuhu Gobir said.

Judge Daniel Williams told Beagen his actions in contacting the young schoolgirl were “sinister”.

He added: “The pre-sentence report says you pose a high risk of reoffending. You are extremely dangerous.”

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Beagen, of Ennerdale Court, Newport, was jailed for more than six years in 2014 for raping a girl and using social media to groom victims.

In 2018, he was locked up for 18 months after being snared by two paedophile hunter groups for further grooming offences.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how the defendant was subject to strict conditions following his release from custody over his use of the internet and electronic devices.

Mr Gobir said Beagen, who has to register as a sex offender for life, had even sent an Instagram friend request to a prison officer.

He pleaded guilty to seven counts of breaching a sexual harm order and failing to comply with sex offender register notifications.

The offences were committed between June and October 2020.

Ben Waters, representing Beagen, said in mitigation: “In the vast majority of posts, he used his own photograph.

“These were unsophisticated and foolish actions. They were destined to fail.

“He contacted two women. They refer to him as a lovely young man who was nothing more than a gentleman to them.”

Judge Williams told Beagen: “You met one woman on a dating website and visited her on multiple occasions, including a weekend when her 13-year-old child was there.

“She didn’t know of your previous convictions.

“You met another woman on a dating site and stayed at her home.”

The defendant was jailed for two years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge upon his release from prison.