The 25-year-old was ordered to register as a sex offender for life and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The latter places strict restrictions on his online use.

When police visited Mortimer’s home last month to carry out checks on him, they found he had deleted his internet history between May 3 and 17.

That put him in breach of his SHPO.

Mortimer, formerly of Kincoed Road, Oakdale, near Blackwood, who used to work as a chef in Newport, pleaded guilty to the offence.

Rosamund Rutter, prosecuting, said: “The defendant deleted his internet history.

“It was a deliberate breach. There is a risk of harm here.

“He is a man who has previously engaged with underage girls.”

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Mortimer was jailed for 16 months in June 2020 after his ex-partner had tipped off Gwent Police.

Detectives discovered he had been making contact with underage girls, including a 15-year-old from Yorkshire, for more than a year.

He admitted communicating with the girl in breach of a previous SHPO and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Mortimer’s initial SHPO was imposed in 2017 after he contacted two 13-year-old schoolgirls on Facebook and sent them sexually explicit images.

When he was sentencing the defendant at Cardiff Crown Court last year, Judge Jeremy Jenkins told him: “You have been assessed as posing a high risk of harm to children.”

Representing Mortimer for his latest offence, Jeffrey Jones, said in mitigation: “The defendant pleaded guilty in the lower court and I’m sure this court will give him full credit for that.”

Mortimer claimed his internet history had been deleted innocently.

He said it was wiped after he was advised by Amazon’s helpline to restore his tablet to its factory settings because he was having problems with the device.

The judge, Recorder Simon Mills, told the defendant: “Your sexual behaviour is a matter of concern.”

He added: “This was a deliberate breach of the order.

“The police are in a black hole as to what you were looking at.”

Mortimer, now of Bradford Street, Caerphilly, was jailed for 10 months and ordered to pay a £156 victim surcharge following his release from prison.

The 23-year-old, a chef who works at a Newport pub, appeared from custody at the city’s magistrates’ court after being arrested last week.

Judge David Parsons heard that by committing the offence, Mortimer, was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order imposed in August 2017.

The court did not hear any detail relating to it, but it was revealed he was already a registered sex offender.

Mike Williams, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was prohibited from having unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16.

“He had a Snapchat relationship with a vulnerable 15-year-old girl who is in care in South Yorkshire.

“She made it quite clear that she was 15 and the two had lengthy conversations going back possibly as long ago as 12 months.

“His offending is aggravated by the fact he sent the child an obscene picture of himself.”

Mortimer pleaded guilty to communicating with the girl in breach of a sexual harm prevention order and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Frank Whittle, representing the defendant, told Judge Parsons his client was a working man who was employed by the Dragonfly pub in Newport and that he lived with his parents.

The court declined jurisdiction in dealing with Mortimer.

The judge told the defendant his sentencing powers of a maximum of 12 months in prison “may not be sufficient”.

Sentence was adjourned to April 17 and Mortimer was granted conditional bail.

He was told he is forbidden from accessing the internet.