A childminder has been banned from working or having any contact with children after one of his clients found sexual messages on her daughter’s phone.
Luke Lee, 36, is under investigation for a series of sex offence allegations in connection with his business, East Sussex Manny.
Today, a court extended an interim sexual risk order banning him from contacting children.
Applying for the extension of the order on behalf of Sussex Police, David Reeder said: “An allegation was made by a woman who said Lee had been communicating with her 12-year-old daughter and the communications were of a sexual nature.
“She had posted an advert in 2019 looking for a childminder and Lee had answered it as East Sussex Manny.
“She hired him to look after her children for four days per week. He took them on trips and the children stayed overnight and on weekends.
“In September 2023 one of the children told her he had been sending inappropriate messages to her phone.”
Mr Reeder said the images sent to the child’s phone included sexualised images and videos, including one based on a kids’ TV programme.
He said Lee was arrested, but the investigation has been very complex and detectives are still waiting for electronic devices to be analysed.
An interim sexual risk order was first put in place in July 2024.
Lee, of Clarendon Road, Hove, did not enter the courtroom because he has recently become a wheelchair user and it only has step access, but his lawyer Ed Fish said he was happy for the hearing to proceed in his absence.
Mr Fish said: “Mr Lee is fed up with the length of time this has taken. He was arrested at the end of 2023, more than two years ago.
“He has recently received notice from the barring service indicating that police have applied for him to be barred from working with children or disabled adults. He has appealed that.
“He is prevented from doing certain things which makes it difficult for him to carry out his day to day life. He cannot visit friends who have children because the interim order is there.
“He is frustrated by that and the length of time without getting a final decision.”
Magistrates ruled the order should be extended, but scheduled a case management hearing for three months time saying a charging decision should be made by then.
The order bans him from contacting children or being in their presence unless their parents are made aware of the order and give their consent – as well as letting police and social services know.
He’s also been banned from taking part in taking part in any activity likely to bring him into supervisory contact with them.
And he’s not allowed to use any internet-enabled device unless he’s let police know and it’s installed with monitoring software.
