A CHILD sex offender lied to the police about where he was living after he was spared jail for molesting a 13-year-old girl he groomed on Facebook.

And Michael Smith, who is also known as Michael King, moved into a house where children lived despite being expressly banned from doing so.

But despite hearing the string of offences put the 24-year-old in breach of the suspended sentence, a judge at Swindon Crown Court said he would not activate it.

Instead he jailed Smith for four months for the new offences meaning he will be out in a few weeks as he has already spent a month in custody on remand.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told how he was put on a one year suspended sentence for sexual assault on September 19, under the name Michael King.

As a result of the offence he was obliged to register as a sex offender and provide the police with details of where he was living.

He told them he was residing with his stepfather on Wheeler Avenue, Stratton, but when officers checked a couple of weeks later the occupants said they had no connection to him.

A few days later the police received information that he was staying at a house on Avebury Road, Penhill, where a woman lived with three children who are under 16.

When they spoke to him he said he had got the house number wrong on Wheeler Avenue but when his stepfather was spoken to he said he hadn’t lived with him.

After his offender manager arranged him a bed at the Salvation Army hostel, Booth House, for a few nights, he said he would be sleeping at a friend’s house in Seagry Court, Penhill.

But that householder also told police he was not living with him and Smith was again tracked down and arrested.

When he was questioned he admitted giving the wrong address in Wheeler Road and that he had been staying in the house with children for three weeks.

Smith pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual offences prevention order and four counts of failing to comply with the notification requirement as a sex offender.

Miss Hingston said he had been put on a 12 month jail term suspended for two years for the sex assault on a child he met online.

He had already met the girl once before when they got together in Moredon and he put his hand down her trousers.

She said he was also awaiting sentence at the magistrates court after admitting a charge of harassment against his former partner.

Rob Ross, defending, said his client had problems with accommodation after he was sentenced in September.

As a result of the hearing he lost his job and his partner, with whom he has a child, ceased to be supportive of him.

He said he would have to make a fresh start when he is released but has yet to start the Thames Valley Sex Offender Programme on the suspended sentence.

Jailing him for four months Judge Peter Blair QC said it meant he would be released in about a month, with the suspended sentence continuing.