A repeat sex offender has been sentenced to prison for sending an explicit image to a woman and sexually attacking a 14-year-old girl he encountered at a grocery store.

Ryan Thomas, 33, from Garn Street in Abercarn, Caerphilly, contested both charges but was found guilty at two separate trials.

The initial offence occurred in April 2022 when he trailed a minor to her residence before kissing and embracing her at her doorstep.

After being found guilty by a jury of inappropriately touching a 14-year-old and while awaiting sentencing, Thomas proceeded to send a woman an image of his erect penis.

Prosecutor Ieuan Bennett informed Cardiff Crown Court that the photograph included text stating he had taken Viagra and had been experiencing an erection for a considerable period.

He was convicted by a jury of dispatching a photograph or recording of genitals with the intention of causing alarm, distress or humiliation.

That offence took place on 21 September the previous year.

The victim of the 2022 assault stated in her impact statement that she felt happy about the conviction and that justice had been served, but still felt scared of him for what he did. She described being in court as extremely stressful and said she did not want to see him again.

The victim of the explicit image offence described in her impact statement that the photograph was vulgar and crass. She told the court it was shocking and repulsive and that she felt disgusted. She said it sent shockwaves through her and that she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder.

Thomas has an extensive record of sexual crimes.

He was expelled from Australia in 2016 following convictions for sexual assault and indecent exposure.

Several months afterwards he exposed himself during the early morning to a female student who was walking home along Mill Lane in Cardiff from her part-time employment at a bar.

She identified him during an identity parade but Thomas left the country and was ultimately apprehended by police on Lower O’Connell Street in Dublin.

He received a prison sentence for sexual assault and drug-related crimes in the Republic of Ireland and served time for the earlier offence committed in Cardiff.

In 2022 he spent 10 months in custody for breaching sex offender notification obligations.

On that occasion he had secured a place to study at the prestigious Imperial College and relocated to London without informing authorities.

Defence counsel Jeffrey Jones requested the court to keep the sentence as short as possible.

Judge Matthew Porter-Bryant addressed the defendant, noting that he had an ingrained inclination towards sex offending and that his antecedent record was appalling.

He further stated that Thomas had been evaluated as presenting a very high risk of harm to children.

The defendant was sentenced to 13 months imprisonment.

He must register as a sex offender for a decade and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Restraining orders were imposed for 10 years prohibiting Thomas from contacting his two victims and another woman.