Locations
Stream Valley Farm, Burnhope, Durham, DH7
Description
A former successful businessman and charity worker has been jailed after he groomed and groped a teenager.
Grant Findley told the schoolgirl he could be her "sugar daddy" when she turned 16 and told her she wouldn't be allowed a boyfriend.
Findley, 42, of Stream Valley Farm, Burnhope, Durham, denied ten counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of meeting a child following sexual grooming.
However, he was found guilty by a jury and at Durham Crown Court today (Tuesday, April 9) Judge Jo Kidd sentenced him to three years in prison.
The judge told him: "You conducted yourself previously with great hard work, perseverance, and intelligence.
"You were on the face of it a generous and kind man.
"That reputation and that behaviour masked your pursuit of a child in order to satisfy your sexual interest in children.
"Your perception of women was clearly in my view warped and misogynistic."
The victim bravely read an impact statement in court and said: "Because of Grant did to me I now really struggle to trust people especially men.
"I now struggle to sleep, suffering repeated nightmares where I relive what Grant did and said to me.
"I have found the last few years incredibly draining. When Grant was doing it to me it made me feel dirty.
"My anxiety has got so bad I can't face answering the door.”
Findley must also sign the sex offender's register and be subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.