A SOUTHAMPTON sex offender serving a suspended sentence from a court in America has been jailed in the UK after being caught with images of an underage girl.

Adam James Robinson was arrested by police in this country after officers received a tip-off about an "inappropriate online relationship" with a 14-year-old girl in America.

The 28-year-old was later released under investigation.

But when police revisited Robinson 10 months later, they found indecent images of the same girl – which he had accessed after his initial arrest.

Yesterday, at Southampton Crown Court, Robinson was jailed for two years.

The court heard Robinson, who was once convicted of having sex with an underage girl in America, was initially arrested in September 2016 after police received information he was talking to another 14-year-old girl in the US.

Prosecutor Nick Saunders said a number of items were seized from Robinson and he was informed that the girl was 14.

Officers then arrested Robinson again in July 2017 and seized a computer, a USB stick and a hard-drive.

Mr Saunders said that while police were inspecting the devices, they found indecent images of the same underage girl Robinson had earlier been talking to.

He said that among the 65 images were 21 Category A images – the most serious kind.

Mr Saunders said that by being in possession of the images, Robinson had breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order set up in 2014.

He added that Robinson had attempted to conceal the images by using a hard-drive which required a separate USB stick in order to work.

In mitigation, Damian Hayes said his client had not committed any offences, including sexual offences, since his arrest in 2017.

He said Robinson had initially stopped talking to the girl after his arrest.

But he said Robinson had later resumed their "inappropriate relationship" after she had sent him messages and handwritten notes in which she had expressed her upset at their break in communication and had threatened to kill herself.

Mr Hayes said Robinson also suffered from autism, depression and anxiety.

Sentencing Robinson, who pleaded guilty to one count of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and three counts of possessing indecent images of a child, judge Gary Burrell QC said: "You are not an unintelligent young man, in fact quite the reverse.

"This was a blatant breach and you must have known what you were doing.

"It is aggravated by your previous convictions and by the fact you tried to cover up what you were doing."

Robinson, of Shirley Road, Southampton was jailed for a total of two years.

As previously reported in the Daily Echo, Robinson's Sexual Harm Prevention Order was put in place in 2014 after he was convicted of an act of voyeurism.

On that occasion, Robinson rigged up a camera so he could record and view pictures of a semi-naked 13-year-old girl with whom he was infatuated.

He was sentenced to four months in prison.

Robinson is still currently under a suspended sentence, imposed in America, after admitting having sex with an underage girl in 2013.