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A Wisbech man has been sentenced for more than 75 cases of sexual offences against a child dating back to the early 2000s.

David Graham, 49, of Walpole St Peter, appeared at King's Lynn Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to rape of an underage girl on 75 occasions.

He was also found guilty to a separate count of rape of an underage vulnerable child and three additional sexual offences all against the same victim.

The female survivor reported to police in September 2021 after being sexually abused for a period of eight years between the early to mid-2000s in the King’s Lynn area.

Graham was arrested in November 2021 and subsequently charged with sexual offences against a child.

The judge found the offences to be a ‘clear campaign of rape’ involving grooming, degradation, and humiliation of a vulnerable child.

He told the court that the survivor had been robbed of her childhood and that Graham was a dangerous offender.  

At court, the survivor’s statement was read out detailing the impact the sexual abuse had on all aspects of her life, relationships, friendships, mental health and work life which culminated to attempts on her own life.

The statement read: “The impacts of sexual abuse have cost me profoundly in many ways, will continue to affect me on a daily basis and has without a doubt set me on a different path from the one I would have taken had I not been abused for many years.

"For so long I have wanted to say goodbye to this chapter in my life and even though a part of it will always be with me I refuse to let it limit the life I want to live anymore.”

DC Loli Ward said: “We hope the sentence will help to provide some justice for the turmoil the victim has gone through during her life.

"We would like to thank her for her bravery in coming forward and reporting these historic sex offences, which have had a profound impact on her life in every way.

“We would also ask that anyone else who has been a victim of such offences seeks help, either through the police or from one of our support organisations, such as the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).”

David Graham was sentenced to a total of 21 years to serve an additional eight years on licence.

Description

A traumatised teen revealed how she washes in bleach after a convicted sexual predator raped and sexually assaulted her.

Eliot Dobkin's depravity had the "most horrendous" impact on his victim’s life, robbing her of her "innocence and childhood" and leaving her with PTSD, a court heard.

The 35-year-old was in Canterbury in the early hours of February 14 this year when he met up with the teen and twice forced himself on her.

As she desperately tried to fight him off, he ignored her tears as well as her repeated pleas to "get off".

The attack was later reported to police and Dobkin was arrested at his home on the Guinness Trust estate in Stamford Hill, north London.

He denied any wrongdoing but was unanimously convicted by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court in September of two charges of rape, one of sexual activity with a child and one of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

Sentencing was adjourned for reports, and today (Tuesday) Judge Mark Weekes jailed Dobkin for more than 10 years at the same court having concluded he was "an entrenched paedophile with a dangerous attraction to young teenage girls".

He also praised the “courage and dignity” of the young victim for not only reporting the rapes but also giving "clear and compelling" evidence at the trial.

In her heartbreaking victim impact statement read to the court, she detailed the depths of her suffering both physically and psychologically, but how she maintained hopes for her future.

She wrote: "He has taken my innocence and taken my childhood from me. I will never get that back. My world fell apart. I felt sick and I felt weak. I kept thinking about what had happened. I blamed myself but I don't know why.

"I have been washing myself in bleach to try and remove the feeling of him on me. I self-harm, have anxiety and been diagnosed with PTSD.

"I feel that no matter what happens to him, nothing changes for me. I'm still left with all these emotions and dealing with the aftermath of what he did to me. He took what he wanted that night to the detriment of me.

"This has impacted my life in the most horrendous way. I will never forget what he has done to me. I hope this sentence will enable me to begin to repair myself and enable me to be the best I can be."

Jurors were told at Dobkin's trial that he had been convicted in 2018 of three offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Prosecutor Peter Forbes said this related to three teenage girls, one who he followed in his van while she was on her paper round in June that year.

He was staring at her through his window and although she could not see into his vehicle, he later admitted to police he had his trousers and pants pulled down at the time and was masturbating.

Two weeks later Bodkin was again cruising in his vehicle when he pulled up alongside two other teenagers. They saw he was naked from the waist down and was pleasuring himself while holding a cup over his genitals.

Mr Forbes said these previous convictions, for which he was jailed for two years, "demonstrated Bodkin's propensity to commit sexual offences towards young girls".

However, the teenage rape victim did not know of his deviant past and she later told police that when she met him he "looked out of his face" as if he had taken drugs or was drunk.

Of the moment she was attacked, Mr Forbes said: "She told him to get off her. She tried to fight him off but said her body 'didn't function properly' and wasn't strong enough.

"She again told him to get off. But he wasn't responding and wasn't even looking at her. He was on top of her. She tried to push his shoulders to push him off her but he pinned her down so she couldn't move.

"She said she was frightened, scared, and felt helpless. She wondered if she got violent, what he would do. She described herself as being frozen."

The court heard the victim cried as her attacker kissed her on the mouth and then her neck. During her ordeal, he also grabbed her hand and tried to make her touch his private parts as she repeated her pleas for him to stop.

Dobkin eventually stopped and fled, leaving his victim in such a distressed state that she collapsed.

After his arrest Dobkin gave a "no comment" interview, denied at trial that any sexual activity with the girl had occurred and, the court was told, still maintains his innocence.

Several references were handed to the judge for the sentencing hearing, with members of his family sitting in court in support.

But Judge Weekes said while many "thought highly" of him and must be "bewildered" by his behaviour, he had "unhesitatingly" concluded he was a "manipulative, deceitful and dangerous” offender.

He therefore imposed an extended sentence for public protection comprising 10-and-a-half years' imprisonment, of which he must serve at least two-thirds, with a further three-and-a-half years added to any licence period.

As the young victim looked on from across the courtroom, the judge told Dobkin: “I have heard the victim impact statement with concern and sympathy. It is clear your actions have had profound consequences for her and her life has been utterly changed by the appalling attack on her by you that night.

“And yet, for all that, it was her courage and resolve that enabled her to make the complaint in the first place. It was that which enabled her to give the clear and compelling evidence to the jury and to have her account vindicated by the jury who saw through your cowardly attempt to deceive them rather than face up to the consequences of what you have done.

“She can forever have the satisfaction of knowing she was believed. Your abuse did not break her. You could not and did not remove her dignity. She is not simply a victim; she is a survivor. No sentence I can impose can undo the harm you did to her. I commend her bravery.

“All rape is horrific and scars forever, but I consider the psychological harm she speaks of is properly described as severe. She was particularly vulnerable...and the evidence showed you were intoxicated, which would have made her ordeal more frightening as it would have made your behaviour less predictable.

"You are an entrenched paedophile with a dangerous attraction to young teenage girls. These convictions mark an alarming escalation in your offending, you have no insight nor remorse, and you have demonstrated most distasteful victim-blaming and shaming."

Dobkin simply glanced at his family before leaving the dock for the court cells. On his eventual release from prison he will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order.

In a heartbreaking victim personal statement, the youngster said Dobkin's depravity had the "most horrendous" impact on her life, robbing her of her "innocence and childhood" and leaving her with PTSD.

Callous Dobkin abused the girl less than five years after he had been locked up for preying on other young girls while masturbating in his van.

Description

A 21-year-old man has been jailed for three years and four months after he pleaded guilty to non-recent serious sexual offences, including rape, against a 12-year-old girl. 

Scott Palmer, also known as Scott Tarry, previously of Gloucester Crescent, Northampton, was 16 when he first started abusing the 12-year-old girl. 

During a two-year period, Palmer forced the girl into sexual acts, including raping her on a number of occasions. 

The offences finally came to light years later when the girl bravely reported the abuse to Northamptonshire Police and an investigation was launched. 

Palmer was eventually charged with three counts of rape, four counts of assaulting a girl under 13 by touching, four counts of assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration with a part of your body/a thing, one count of causing/inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of being an offender aged 18 or over and causing/inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity. 

Palmer pleaded guilty to all 13 offences at a hearing at Northampton Crown Court in May, returning to the same court this week (December 11) where he was sentenced to three years and four months in prison. 

Lead Investigator – Detective Sergeant Elli Amson said: “The survivor in this case suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of this man and I am really pleased that he has been sent to prison for his crimes. 

“She has been extremely brave in coming forward and supporting this case, which has taken a number of years to conclude, and she should be commended for the dignity and strength she has shown throughout. 

“Scott Palmer was 16 years old when he committed these offences and so was sentenced as such. Like so many abusers, he thought he was safe from justice, but this case goes to show that even if years have passed since sexual abuse happened, Northamptonshire Police takes it extremely seriously and that we will do everything we can to secure justice.”

Description

A FLINTSHIRE man has been locked up after 'reverting to his old ways' and attempting to exchange sexual messages with someone he believed to be a child.

Andrew Lloyd, of Chester Road in Northop Hall, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Tuesday morning.

The 39-year-old had previously admitted an offence of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child under 16, which took place over a period of around two weeks in October and November this year.

Karl Scholz, prosecuting, told the court the offence also put Lloyd in breach of a ten year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in two ways - his attempted communication with a child and his use of social networking sites without notifying police beforehand.

Lloyd made contact with a profile online which had a photo of a young girl.

Within half an hour of the 'girl' telling him she was 12 years of age, Lloyd had sent her a photo of his exposed genitals.

Fortunately, the account was a decoy under the control of a group working to identify sexual predators online.

The chat moved onto Whatsapp, where he repeatedly spoke about his genitals and asked for photos of the girl.

The vigilante group attended the address where Lloyd was staying - after he'd revealed his location in the chats - and he was arrested shortly after.

Mr Scholz told the court the defendant received a custodial sentence of two years in September 2021 for similar offences, which is when his ten year SHPO was imposed.

In interview, Lloyd accepted he was the person in the chat and apologised for his actions.

He claimed he had been "working well with probation" following his 2021 offences, but that he'd returned to using drugs and experienced a decline in his mental health following issues at his accommodation.

Elen Owen, defending told the court: "Mr Lloyd doesn't want me to make any excuses.

"He had initially been working with probation and was receiving a great deal of support, but unfortunately he was put in a bedsit with someone who made threats on his life in prison.

"That made his life extremely difficult and he was very frightened - leading to his reverting back to his old ways of taking cocaine.

"Under the totally disinhibiting effect of the drug, he went back to behaving in this manner.

"He hopes whilst in prison to access help with substance abuse."

Judge Niclas Parry told Lloyd: "Within half an hour of finding out, as you believed, you were talking to a 12-year-old girl you were sending an image of your genitalia.

"Hundreds of messages followed and you encouraged her to send sexual images to you.

"Mercifully, there was no child."

Judge Parry jailed the defendant for two-and-a-half years and extended his SHPO, as well as his requirements under the notification provisions, to last indefinitely.

"That is hanging over you forever," he added.

Description

A man who sexually assaulted five women as they walked in public in Bexhill has been given a seven-year sentence.

Max Wright, 27, formerly of Amherst Road in Bexhill, was charged with five counts of sexual assault relating to three separate incidents between November, 2022 and June, 2023.

The first incident was reported on 20 November, 2022. A woman walking alone from Bexhill Railway Station the night before was grabbed and sexually assaulted by a man giving the name of Maximiliano.

She engaged him in conversation to placate him, before running away from the scene.

An investigation was launched the next day including extensive CCTV trawls and house to house enquiries, but a suspect could not be identified.

Overnight on 15/16 April, 2023, three women walking from Cooden Railway Station were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a man who threatened to rape them before fleeing the scene.

It was reported on 16 April and officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Team visited the scene the same day, carried out enquiries and identified a suspect.

Wright was arrested the next day, linked to both incidents and released on conditional bail while further enquiries were carried out.

In the early hours of 24 June, another woman was sexually assaulted while walking in Bexhill by a man who threatened to rape her.

She was on the phone to a friend at the time and managed to capture brief footage of the attack.

Wright was swiftly identified as a suspect, arrested within hours and subsequently charged with five counts of sexual assault.

He pleaded guilty to all counts on 24 July at Hove Crown Court.

At the same court on 1 December, Wright was given a four-year jail sentence, with another three years to be spent on licence. He was also given restraining orders against each victim and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.

Description

Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man from Bicester has been convicted of rape and other child sexual offences.

A jury unanimously found Hayden Nolan, aged 31, of Bernwood Road, guilty of two counts each of rape of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and sexual assault of a child under 13 at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (7/12).

He is due to be sentenced on 11 January next year.

Nolan raped and sexually assaulted a child under 13 numerous times. He was charged on 15 December last year.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Bryn Smith, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Hayden Nolan is a predatory sex offender who has now been convicted three times of offences against children.

“Nolan is a danger to children around him. He is extremely manipulative and an experienced liar. 

“He groomed the child victim in this matter over a few months, starting with touching over clothing which then quickly escalated to rape.

“This abuse only ceased when he was imprisoned after being caught making arrangements to meet a teenage girl for sex in early 2019. The girl was in fact a decoy child operated by a law enforcement officer.

Description

A teenager who sexually assaulted two children has been jailed.

Oliver Carr, who was 18 at the time of the offences, knew the ages of both victims when he targeted them.

In March this year, while working in a McDonald’s restaurant in Swadlincote, Carr took the youngest victim, a girl under 10, into a cupboard, locked the door and touched her. She told her family what had happened and they called police. Carr was arrested at the scene.

The following day, while officers were investigating the McDonald’s incident, another young girl told police that Carr had been sending her sexual messages. He met up with the girl on two occasions when he kissed and touched her, despite knowing she hadn’t yet even reached her teens.

Carr, of Swadlincote, was arrested in the early hours of 13 March and subsequently charged.

Now 19, he admitted two counts of sexual touching, engaging in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.

He appeared at Derby Crown Court for sentence on Tuesday 28 November when he was jailed for 18 months. Carr was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, restraining orders preventing him from having any contact with the youngsters and was ordered to sign the sex offender’s register.

Description

AN ‘odious’ paedophile has been jailed for 19 years after sexually abusing a female child.

Paul Burton ‘put insidious pressure’ on a young girl to engage in sexual activity with him for five years before subjecting her to manipulative behaviour for a further five years.

The 45-year-old was found guilty on Monday (December 11), after a five-week trial at Oxford Crown Court, of eight counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, two counts of sexual assault and one count of controlling and coercive behaviour.

Occurring in an Oxfordshire village, Burton subjected his victim to years of abuse by filming the sexual assault, forcing her to take contraception, sending her 490 messages a day, showing up at her place of work, and more.

She suffered from several pregnancy scares across the nine years of abuse.

During the trial, Burton claimed it was the victim who had ‘seduced’ and ‘blackmailed’ him but the jury dismissed his account.

Sentencing him, Judge Maria Lamb dubbed Burton’s behaviour as ‘odious’.

She said: “She became your trophy. You began to abuse her, committing the most serious of sexual crimes.

“Whether you consider the abuse grooming or controlling her, perhaps it does not matter, as the two, in my view, are two sides of the same coin. 

“She felt suffocated and referred to herself as your robot. Your behaviour was self-centred and egotistical.”

In a victim impact statement read out in court by prosecutor Fern Russell, the woman said she now suffers from anxiety, depression, and possibly PTSD.

She said: “I think about this from the moment I wake up until it’s my last thought before I fall asleep.

“I find it hard to trust others or let anyone in. I’ve find it incredibly difficult emotionally. I struggle to talk about my emotions and it takes a while to open up.”

The woman added that she has struggled to return to work and has suffered a financial impact, as well as psychological, as a result of the offences.

Defending Burton, of Rookery Road, Innsworth, Gloucester, barrister Nadia Chbat pointed out that the defendant has no previous convictions of a similar nature and had behaved ‘excellently’ throughout court proceedings.

However, Judge Lamb noted he was ‘gesticulating’ in the dock during sentencing and as he was taken down to the cells, he shouted: “You’ve got it wrong, I never touched her.”

He will serve an estimated 13 years in prison before being released on licence.

Description

Michael Kellard, 64, was found guilty of 15 child sex offences by a jury after a trial last month.

Kellard faced 17 child sex offences at Bournemouth Crown Court involving two young male victims dating back 20 years. He was found not guilty on two counts of rape.

The charges related to incidents which occurred from December 7, 2000, to May 2005.

Jurors found Kellard guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of rape, four counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and five counts of indecent assault on a male person.

Kellard, of Dunkeswell in Devon, will be banned from working with anyone under the age of 16 or in a vulnerable position.

He will serve 12 years in prison and the final 6 years on licence.

He has been put on the Sex Offenders Register for life and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 20 years which prevents him from having contact with anyone under the age of 18 without written consent.

Judge Susan Evans KC said in her sentencing remarks that Kellard "groomed" his victims, gave them alcohol and went on to sexually abuse them in his van, hotels, his mother's home and his brother's flat.

 Judge Evans said: “You were a charismatic individual involved in a sport popular with teenage boys.

“You were regarded as the go-to guy for teenage boys aspiring to be racing drivers.

“You abused your position at the top of the sport.

“You took advantage of your position, and you knew the boys were vulnerable due to their ages.

"Karting is an expensive hobby which you subsidised on a basis to sexually abuse your victim.

“The effect of your abuse has had life-long and life-changing effects on your victims.”

Kellard was a go-karting enthusiast, travelling around the country, training and driving with young go-karters.

He also ran a kart shop at the Clay Pigeon raceway, off the A37 between Dorchester and Yeovil, where he would also frequently train young racers.

The two victims both met Kellard through go-karting. 

Description

A pensioner who repeatedly sexually assaulted a woman at a Salvation Army church centre “misinterpreted” their workplace banter, a court has heard.

Gordon Anderson forced himself upon his victim while employed as a cleaner at the church’s base in Perth city centre.

Description

A "manipulative and predatory" man took indecent photos of a young girl in her swimsuit, a court has heard. Daniel Minton was descried as "sexually pre-occupied" and with little regard for sexual boundaries.

Swansea Crown Court heard 44-year-old Minton took the photographs of the schoolgirl in a hot tub at a location where the child had gone to drink alcohol and to "party" in 2021. Most of the photographs focused on the girl's groin area and partially showed her genitalia, and they were placed in Category C of the categorisation of indecent photographs.

Daniel Minton, of Penclawdd Road, Penclawdd, Gower, denied making indecent photographs but was convicted at trial. The court heard that following his conviction a probation officer had discussed with the defendant the possibility of him doing a community-based sex offender course, and he replied: "Do you want a load of dead paedos? Because that is what will happen."

Ian Ibrahim, for Minton, accepted the pre-sentence report "makes unpleasant reading" and said "it seems the author of the report and Mr Minton did not see eye-to-eye". He said it had been the defendant's evidence that he had consumed alcohol on the night in question, and he said Minton had then "foolishly" taken the photographs. The barrister added that the defendant's life had changed dramatically since the offending.

Recorder Mark Powell KC said he had requested a pre-sentence report into the defendant because of his concerns about the offending and the circumstances in which it had been taken, and he said the resulting report "makes very disturbing reading". He said an experienced probation officer had concluded that Minton was a "manipulative and predatory" man who took risk-taking to the point of recklessness, and that the risk could not be managed in the community. The judge said it was clear from what he had read, and from the evidence in the trial, that the defendant was "very ego-centric", had "distorted thinking" and was "sexually pre-occupied" with little regard for sexually boundaries.

Minton was sentenced to two years in prison - he will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

Description

AN offender previously jailed for activity which was deemed to constitute ‘child abduction’ in Warrington has been locked up again.

Ronald Howard was told to ‘stay well away’ from a teenage girl he plied with alcohol, having been incarcerated for six months in April last year.

However, the 26-year-old has now reoffended after he pretended to be a woman during sexualised chats with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

He appeared before Liverpool Crown Court charged with attempted sexual communications with a child.

Frank Dillon, prosecuting, told the court that on November 30 last year, six months after he was jailed for the Warrington offence, Howard contacted the fake profile of ‘Milly’, a 13-year-old girl on the Rando Chat app.

This account had been set up by an undercover police officer tasked with rooting out online child sex offenders.

The defendant pretended to be a 19-year-old woman and the conversation became sexualised, with the defendant sending the ‘girl’ an image of a woman exposing her breasts.

The conversation moved to Snapchat, and Howard sent a picture to her which he claimed was of ‘her boyfriend’s penis’. He also encouraged her to send him photographs of herself.

Police were able to identify Howard through his phone number, which was known by the probation service, said Mr Dillon.

He was arrested on December 22 and made no comment to most of the questions when interviewed.

The court heard of his previous conviction for child abduction in April last year, with the court hearing on that occasion that in January last year, police attended his then-flat on Silverdale Road in Newton-le-Willows and issued him with a child abduction warning notice.

At the time of serving the notice, police found the girl inside Howard’s flat and returned her to her place of residence, namely a care home in the Warrington area.

On March 2 last year, , at around 8.30pm, the girl’s carer and a colleague had to leave the home to look for her after she went missing.

They found the girl on a dirt track with the defendant, who was holding her up as they walked as she was unsteady on her feet.

The carer could smell alcohol on the girl’s breath, who was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open and whose head was ‘floppy’.

She asked the man who he was, to which he gave a false name and address, as well as saying he was from St Helens but was currently homeless. He did not reply when asked how he knew her.

As she began to sober up the next day, she confirmed the identity of the defendant and that he had been served with a child abduction warning notice.

She told the carer they had been to a Co-op together for alcohol and that they had kissed, but she could not remember anything else.

Howard was sentenced to six months in prison and handed a restraining order not to contact the girl or enter the Warrington street on which she resides for seven years.

After approving the restraining order, Judge Potter added: “Stay well away from this child.”

For this latest attempted sexual communications with a child offence, recorder Eric Lamb sentenced Howard, of Grange Park Road in Thatto Heath, St Helens, to 15 months in prison.

He was also ordered to sign on the sex offender register for 10 years and hit with a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

Description

A sex offender who raped a young girl on multiple occasions has been put behind bars for 15 years.

Nicholas Smith preyed upon the girl and raped her up to six times over a five-month period – warning her not to tell anyone or they would both go to prison.

Detectives began an investigation when the girl revealed what had happened to friends, and teachers at her school became aware.

As well as raping and sexually assaulting the girl, Smith also forced her to watch sexual acts and send him indecent images of herself between January and June 2022.

The 44-year-old, of Oakenhall Avenue, Hucknall, was jailed for a total of 15 years at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (8 December).

He will serve a further five years on licence after his release from prison. Smith is also now subject to a restraining order which bans him from contacting the girl for life and has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Smith had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of raping a girl under the age of 13, sexual assault of a child, causing a child to look at sexual activity and two counts of making an indecent image of a child.

Description

A sex offender was caught with an illegal smartphone after police noticed he had left the charger plugged in.

Ronald Young has multiple sexual offence convictions, including being caught twice in five months by undercover “paedophile hunter” groups after he went to Newcastle to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE previously jailed for grooming a vulnerable boy has been hauled back to court for breaching the terms of his sex offender register requirements.

The conditions were imposed on Terence Grant-Hanlon after her sexually assaulted the child in the 1990s.

The 48-year-old, now of Warrington, appeared before Warrington Magistrates’ Court charged with failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and obstructing a police officer.

The court heard from Joseph Kindley, prosecuting the case, how this breach occurred in Warrington on November 2.

Grant-Hanlon failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his notification requirements in that he failed to notify Cheshire Police of his current home address.

Then on November 7, he Obstructed a Cheshire Police officer constable in the execution of his duty.

The defendant was ordered to sign the sex offender register for life when he was jailed for 11 years at Liverpool Crown Court in May 2015.

The paedophile was found guilty of molesting the child when he was aged between 11 and 14 in the 1990s.

Grant-Hanlon, who was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual offences including indecent assault, exploited the child by giving him ‘lots of attention, sweets and presents’.

The defendant, of Suez Street in Warrington town centre, pleaded guilty to the two counts he faced before magistrates in Warrington.

As a result, he was sentenced to a 12-month community order, including 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was also fined £50 and ordered to pay both costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £114.