Locations
Squires Avenue, Nottingham, NG6
Description
A child sex offender tried and failed to arrange a house viewing at the home of a schoolboy he was stalking.
Shane York caused great distress to the boy and his family by targeting him in a series of increasingly concerning ways.
The 32-year-old’s campaign of stalking lasted several months and began with him repeatedly following the child home from school.
This became a regular occurrence, with York also taking photos of the boy – who he didn’t know – whenever he saw him, while keeping a log of the sightings on his phone.
York’s behaviour would eventually escalate to an even more dangerous level when he discovered his victim’s family were planning to move house.
At that point, he made numerous attempts to book a viewing, before then writing two letters to the estate agents pretending to be from the family.
Both letters saw York instruct the realtors to cancel the sale, take the house off the market, and to not contact them – the ‘homeowners’ – again.
The strange behaviour was ultimately discovered when the real family queried what was going on and were shown the letters they’d supposedly sent.
York was identified as the perpetrator soon after, at which point it was discovered he’d also tried and failed to get a job at the boy’s school.
His campaign of stalking in Nottingham all happened between February and July last year, when he was arrested by police.
In the investigation that followed however, it was revealed that York’s stalking offences only scratched the surface of the paedophile’s depravity.
A series of indecent photos of children that York had taken himself were discovered inside his home. None of these images were of the child he'd been stalking.
This evidence enabled detectives to prove that the predator had sexually abused a young child on two separate occasions in 2023 and 2024.
Searches of York’s home also led to the discovery of more than 1,700 indecent images and videos of children on his devices.
Further prohibited pictures of children and extreme pornographic images of animals were also found.
Faced with the mounting evidence detectives had gathered, York pleaded guilty to the ten separate charges he faced.
These included two counts of sexual assault on a child, one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, and two counts of taking indecent photographs of children.
York, previously of Squires Avenue, Bulwell, appeared before Nottingham Crown Court to be sentenced on 2 March.
Having been labelled "dangerous" by the judge at the hearing, he was duly issued with an extended prison sentence of nine years.
York will serve six years in custody, before then spending the remaining three years of his sentence on licence after that.
He was also made the subject of restraining orders, banning him from contacting his victims until further order, while a sexual harm prevention order was also granted against him until further order.
Detective Constable Stacey Lamb, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“Shane York developed a dangerous infatuation with a child and spent several months stalking him in a range of deeply concerning ways.
"His stalking showed persistence and planning, while his behaviour was highly manipulative.
“York’s actions – not to mention his attempts to get a job at the boy’s school – caused understandable distress to his victims and prompted an investigation that uncovered the truth of his depravity.
“The seriousness of York’s crimes really can’t be emphasised enough, while the danger he poses to children is clear for everyone to see.
“We’re pleased to see his sentence reflect the serious nature of his offending.
"That might not have been possible without the young victim finding the courage to tell his parents what had happened, with his bravery ultimately helping stop York's offending before it escalated even further."