Locations
Beckhill Walk, Meanwood, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS7
Description
Andre Morton was found guilty by a jury in February this year of six counts of indecent assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child, decades after the offending
A twisted paedophile who sexually abused a nine-year-old boy when he was a teenager leaving him with lifelong damage has finally been jailed some 35 years later.
Andre Morton, now 49, groomed the young boy from the age of five, before beginning to sexually abuse him years later.
Morton, of Beckhill Walk, Meanwood in Leeds, was found guilty by a jury in February this year of six counts of indecent assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child.
Camile Morland, prosecuting, told Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday that Morton began abusing the boy in the 1980s. The abuse spanned a period of two years, when the boy was between the ages of nine and 11, and Morton himself was 14 or 15, Leeds Live reports.
She said: "He [the victim] was to say there was sexualised behaviour, and grooming behaviour that took place before the defendant was 14. It is right to say that the behaviour began when he was around the age of five, and the defendant was around the age of 11...He was frightened of him."
Ms Morland said the abuse then turned sexual, and on one occasion Morton was almost caught out by a young girl as he stroked himself against the boy. She said: "She [the girl] asked what was happening and the defendant said they were getting changed.
The prosecutor added that some of the counts Morton was found guilty of related to multiple incidents, of which there were at least two.
She added: "The complainant didn't tell his family but a disclosure was made to his best friend at the time when they were 14. There was a period of time when nothing was said but on various occasions from 2016 onwards the complainant would... be distressed and say he had been abused."
Ms Morland said the man has, since the abuse, suffered from nightmares, flashbacks and physical ailments including bleeding.
She said: "He had a violent temper. He would wet himself at school and would avoid other children, staying inside at playtimes. [Later] he struggled with intimacy and authority, and would react badly and lose jobs."
The court heard the victim reported Morton to police in 2016. He was arrested and interviewed in 2016 and 2018 but denied the allegations. Morton had been jailed in 1999 for six and a half years after being convicted of four offences of indecent assault against a young girl.
Ms Morland told the court he also has previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two of which happened when he was a teenager, burglary, dishonesty and driving offences.
Joanne Sheperd, mitigating, said Morton still denies the offences despite being convicted by a jury in February this year. She said he suffered in his own childhood with neglect and had attended a special school during his adolescence.
Deputy Circuit Judge Clayson jailed Morton for seven-and-a-half-years in total - 35 years after he committed the offences.
He told him: "The consequences of what you did to him [the victim] was immense. He has experienced frequent psychological trauma, he has suffered some fits of anger and he has nightmares and flashbacks as well as physical problems.
"It really is no exaggeration to describe the harm you caused as profound and lifelong. He was clearly frightened of you and speaks of you having a violent temper. It is clear the level of harm he suffered is very severe."
Morton will have to serve five years in custody before being able to apply to go before the Parole Board, who will assess if he is safe for release. If he is released before the seven-and-a-half-years is at an end, he will serve the rest of the sentence on licence.
He has also been made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and will have to continue to notify police of his whereabouts for the rest of his life.