Michael Binder 44

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Southend businessman Michael Binder, 44, of Bournes Green Chase in Shoebury, has been jailed for five years for sexually abusing three girls he met through his family’s school uniform shop.

Binder was convicted of five sexual offences against the victims, whom he encountered at Pauls Discount store (also known as Pauls School Wear and Uniform Shop) in Southchurch Road, Southend. He was running the business, previously owned by his parents, when the offending began in his late 20s. He had also worked as a DJ.

At Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday (June 2), Recorder Clark told Binder he had committed “a series of appalling offending against children” and that “a jury saw through your lies.” Prosecutor Richard Scott described Binder’s actions as “grooming behaviour.”

Binder pleaded guilty to three child sex abuse charges in 2025 and to a fourth before his trial in 2026. A reporting restriction prevented those pleas from being reported until after the jury convicted him of the fifth count — the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in the shop’s stock room.

The girl told jurors Binder pulled up her Facebook profile, commented that her shorts made her look like she was “asking for it,” then led her upstairs to play a memorisation game involving school uniforms. When she complained of back pain, he claimed he used to be a masseuse, pulled her towards him and pressed his groin against her. Her mother testified the girl came home “distraught” and that she confronted Binder the next day. He denied the assault under oath but was convicted by a 10-2 majority.

Only after the verdict were jurors told Binder had already pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl and making sexual videos with a 16-year-old. (While a 16-year-old can consent to sex, it is illegal to create sexual images of them.)

Defence barrister Michael McAlinden said Binder had “led, effectively, a positive, blameless, productive family life” for around a decade after the offences. He is married with two young children aged four and seven, McAlinden told the court, adding that “his wife has got to deal with everything that’s happened over the last four years.”

Binder wrote a letter of apology to the court, stating: “I regret these actions every day.” However, Recorder Clark said a probation report found his remorse “limited,” with “a pattern of minimisation and partial denial.”

As he was led to the cells, Binder nodded at his family and mouthed: “I’m alright, I’m alright.”

He will serve up to 40 per cent of his five-year sentence before release on licence. On release he will be subject to lifelong sex offender notification requirements and a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order.