Dante Ingham-Marsters 29

Description

A paedophile has been deemed dangerous by a judge after befriending a teenage girl online and persuading her to perform sexual acts for him. Dante Ingham-Marsters also made the victim watch as he performed an act himself.

Ingham-Marsers, who was already the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) when he committed the offences, has now been jailed after a jury convicted him of two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, the 27-year-old was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years. He will also spend an additional two years on extended licence following his eventual release.

Ingham-Marsters, of Bollin Avenue, Bowdon, originally made contact with the girl - who was under 16 - on social media app TikTok and used other social media sites to speak to her, the court was told. She watched him perform a sexual act on at least two occasions and incited her to engage in two separate sexual acts, on at least three occasions each.

After being arrested, Ingham-Marsters admitted speaking with the girl, but said that the conversations were not sexual in nature.

In a victim statement, the girl said the incidents made her feel 'emotionally abused' and that she can no longer trust anyone. She also said that she suffers with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as a result.

Defending, Max Saffman described the case as 'very difficult to mitigate after a trial'. He made reference to Ingham-Marsters 'immaturity' and said that he has' difficulties forming relationships with those his own age'. Mr Saffman added that Ingham-Marsters 'gravitates towards' teenage girl, but stressed that there was 'no physical contact' between him and the victim.

Judge Bernadette Baxter deemed Ingham-Marsters as a dangerous offender and passed an extended sentence. She said: The jury rejected your denials and clearly accepted [the victims] evidence, as do I.

Her victim personal statement makes it clear that your offending has had a detrimental impact on her; affecting her self-confidence and her trust in people. Luckily she has the support of her loving family.

Ingham-Marsters will spend at least two-thirds of his seven-and-a-half year sentence in jail, before being considered for parole. Upon his release, he will spend the rest of his sentence, as well as an extra two years on extended licence.

The judge added: Sadly, you have a history of this type of offending. In 2015, you were jailed for 33 months for two offences of sexual activity with a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. You also have eight convictions for breaching a SHPO.

In my judgement, these offences demonstrate that you are a predatory sex offender. You have previous convictions and are repeatedly breaking the terms of the SHPO you are subject to.

You are always on the lookout for a sexual opportunity. You identify young or vulnerable victims online, you pre-plan and have little or no internal controls to check your sexual impulses.

In my judgement, these factors clearly demonstrate that you meet the test for a dangerous offender and there is a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public from you.

Following his sentence, Ingham-Marsters will be subject to a SHPO and will have to sign the sex offenders' register for an indefinite period of time.