Locations
Dimple Road, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4
Description
A convicted sex offender who knew he was not allowed any contact with girls under the age of 16 let a young child sit on his knee at a church.
Derby Crown Court heard how Richard Clarke chased a second young victim around the same place of worship and spoke to a third one in a local cafe knowing full well he was forbidden from doing so by a court order.
The 70-year-old, of Matlock, was jailed for 30 months in 2014 for possessing sick child abuse images of underage girls. Now he has two years to stay out of trouble or risk being returned back behind bars for another stint.
Handing him a 16-month prison term, suspended for two years, Judge Martin Hurst said: “When I read this case last night I thought ‘this man is going to go to prison’ because he’s had contact with three different children, two at the church and one at the cafe. I don’t accept for one minute your claim that she’s (the first victim) climbed on your knee.
“You know you are not allowed to have any contact and you knew you were not allowed to chase (the third victim) around the church to do up her shoelaces. This would have led to your head being near her groin area and you have come close to committing a touching offence which, if you had committed one, would unquestionably have led to an immediate prison sentence.
“You make sure you have nothing to do with young children and you go to that church just to worship.” Annabel Lenton, prosecuting, said all three offences happened during April and May of 2023.
She said the first one took place when he was spotted with a young girl sitting on his knee at the church and when it was noticed the girl was removed. The prosecutor said: “In interview, he said the girl had climbed onto his knee.
“The second offence happened when a 13-year-old girl was in a cafe in Matlock with some friends and as she left the defendant said hello to her. She returned home and told her parents.
“The third offence happened at the same church (as the first one) when he was seen chasing a young girl around as her shoelaces were undone. He caught up with her and tied her laces and he later said he did this as he did not want her to trip over.”
Miss Lenton said Clarke, of Dimple Road, was jailed for 30 months in 2014 for a number of counts of possessing indecent images of children. She said as part of that punishment he was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and was placed on the sex offender register, also for 10 years.
The defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching the order. Sam Lowne, mitigating, said his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity when he appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court.
He said: “Speaking plainly, from the conversation I had with Mr Clarke, it does appear that over the years, since the order was imposed, an element of complacency has crept in.”
Clarke’s order will remain in place and he will remain on the sex offender register.