Latest Offenders Durham

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A man claimed "he didn't know" it was illegal to have sex with a 14-year-old girl when confronted by a vigilante group. Luke Porter said he thought it was only 'frowned upon'.

Porter, 18, travelled to Darlington railway station for a meet-up with what he thought was a girl called Megan. He had been sending messages to her over WhatsApp. However, he was actually communicating with a member of vigilante group Newcastle Hunters.

He was charged with, and admitted to, attempting to communicate with a child to engage in sexual activity. Teesside Crown Court heard he had only turned 18 a matter of weeks before the incident occurred, reports TeesideLive.

Paul Abrahams, prosecuting, told the court on April 21: "It's fair to say the conversation turned to sexual matters relatively quickly. There was then conversation arranging a meet at Darlington railway station.

"The defendant did indeed travel to the station to meet 'Megan' where he was then accosted by the group who were waiting for him there and identified him from a photograph he had sent. He was arrested by the police at 5pm on January 25."

Footage of the encounter was shared on the Newcastle Hunters Facebook group, where Porter told the vigilantes he "doesn't know why he did it" and said he was sorry. He also initially claimed he didn't know it was illegal and thought it was just "frowned upon". Sentencing Porter, of Beaumont Street West, to nine months in a young offenders' institute, suspended for two years, Judge Timothy Stead said: "While this is an offence involving the concept of a sexual offence against a child, there was no actual child in this case.

"Nevertheless, what you did was an offence because you believed you were communicating with a 14-year-old girl - a girl who was previously a stranger to you. In fact you were communicating with an adult but this was to bring about justice in a case such as yours, where someone like you is only too willing to engage in sexual offending with children."

Porter is now subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order. He was also ordered to attend 25 rehabilitation requirement days.

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Pearson, 49, of Ewe Hill Terrace, Houghton, denied seven charges of indecent assault during a trial at Newcastle Crown Court but was convicted by a jury earlier this year.

At the sentence hearing on Friday morning the victim stood in the witness box and told Pearson: "I hate what you have done. I hate you."

She told the court her ordeal at his hands "will impact me for the rest of my life".

Mr Recorder Tony Hawks sentenced Pearson to six years behind bars.

Pearson must sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for life.

The judge told him sex offences on children causes "catastrophic psychological harm" and added: "If there is any doubt about that, it could be resolved by listening to the very brave and moving personal statement the complainant has read to this court, detailing the affect this has had on her life."

The court heard Pearson, who was married at the time of the offences and is a father, has health problems and has never been to prison before.

Sue Hirst, defending, said Pearson has just one previous conviction, from many years ago, for dissimilar offending.

Miss Hirst said: "He continues to deny these offences.

"He will find a custodial sentence more difficult than the average defendant."

After the hearing, Detective Constable Lyndsey Allen said: "The victim has suffered the most awful abuse that no child should ever be subjected to.

"She has suffered so much physical and emotional abuse which lasted throughout her adult life and this case has allowed her to finally have a voice.

"I hope the outcome of this case gives her the sense of closure to finally move on with her life.

"She has been so incredibly brave throughout this case and I can't commend her enough for speaking out against Pearson, who took advantage of her vulnerabilities as a child."

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A SEX offender who has persistently flouted notification requirements whenever released from prison is back behind bars for his latest breaches. Jack Whitfield-Gash, then aged 20, was jailed for 16 months at Durham Crown Court in August 2017, after being convicted of sexual activity with a child under 16, an offence committed when he was said to be an 18-year-old. He was also made subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and required to register as a sex offender for ten years, but committed his first breach shortly after his release, receiving an initial ten-day sentence. Whitfield-Gash was back before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe, in early March, and committed back to the crown court for sentence, having admitted two offences of failing to comply with notification requirements and three of failing to comply with a SHPO. The court was told he failed to inform police he was living at the home of a woman who has a young daughter, days after being released from Durham Prison, on January 18 this year. Durham Crown Court heard that he also chatted with two underage teenage girls at a bus stop, at which he told them he was stoned, and exchanged phone numbers with one, later receiving a message from her asking if he was, still stoned? Tabitha Buck, prosecuting, said his phone was seized after he left an address on February 28 and examination revealed contact with the girls, at a bus stop in Durham. The parents of the girl who sent the message to Whitfield-Gash were unaware their daughter had been in communication with him. When interviewed about the various breaches, Whitfield-Gash described the situation as, one big game, adding that it was, stupid little things that police keep getting him on. Miss Buck told the court the defendant became agitated with the interviewing officer and threatened to spit at her. Whitfield-Gash, 24, of no fixed address, but who has been in custody in Durham Prison since his latest arrest, in late February, was said to have 30 convictions for 50 offences, including 13 sex-related, 11 of them being previous failures to comply with notification requirements. Whitfield-Gash, 24, of no fixed address, but who has been in custody in Durham Prison since his latest arrest, in late February, was said to have 30 convictions for 50 offences, including 13 sex-related, 11 of them being previous failures to comply with notification requirements. Miss Buck told the court that the defendant, has links all over the North East, and she said the latest batch of offences suggested it was, a deliberate attempt to avoid detection, as he is fully aware of the requirements of the orders, given his recent offending history. Jane Waugh, in mitigation, said all the offences are committed as he is homeless, as those with whom he can make contact all live more than two hours by bus from any police station at which he must register his address. She said there was no intention to evade police and, with the brief meeting with the girls at the bus stop, there was, no sexual intention or motivation. Judge Ray Singh said he rejected Whitfield-Gashs assertion to police that these were just, trivial matters. You, more than anyone else, know the serious nature of the orders against you Because you know about this, you have appeared before the courts for 11 previous breaches. This is not an isolated offence. These are deliberate, persistent, prolonged breaches over a number of years, not stating to police where you are living, making it hard to monitor your movements. Im afraid the lessons are not sinking in over these matters. Imposing a two-year prison sentence Judge Singh said it would be for the police to apply, through other channels to extend the SHPO, which expires in August.

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A MAN responsible for, a catalogue of depravity has received a 25-year extended prison sentence for the prolonged sexual abuse of two boys.

Darren John Wood subjected the victims to dreadful and awful ordeals to satisfy his lust, while heavily intoxicated.

Durham Crown Court heard the abuse left his victims traumatised, leading to at least one self-harming and suffering addiction problems, with the psychological effects persisting into adulthood for both.

The, now 48-year-old defendant, of Saxon Green, Escomb, near Bishop Auckland, was accused of a total of 14 serious sexual assaults, including oral and anal rapes of the boys.

He claimed the offences never took place and maintained those denials at his trial earlier this year.

But, on the sixth day of the hearing, following lengthy deliberation, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all 14 charges.

Wood was remanded in custody pending preparation of a background report on him by the Probation Service, as well as to enable victim statements to be gathered from the victims.

Those statements were read to the court, relating the psychological impact both victims have suffered since the offences were committed.

Andrew Finlay, in mitigation, told the court that his client, has not come to terms with the jurys verdicts, but added that he would comply with the extensive programme of rehabilitative work planned for him in custody.

Mr Finlay said: It may help him come to terms with the outcome of the case.

He added that the defendant has no previous convictions for, offences of this magnitude, nor of this nature.

Judge James Adkin told Wood he was convicted of what was, a catalogue of depravity, causing, significant impact to both victims.

The judge said although he has no past convictions of a sexual nature, the offences he previously committed showed, a capacity to commit violence and intimidation."

He said he was satisfied the defendant poses a significant risk of committing further specified serious offences.

Judge Adkin, therefore, made him subject to an extended determinate sentence of 25 years in custody, with a five-year licence period upon his release.

Wood must serve at last 16-and-a-half years behind bars before he can be considered for parole but may have to spend the full 25 years in custody.

He was also made subject of registration as a sex offender and the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, both for life.

Lifetime restraining orders were also put in place preventing future contact or approaches to his victims.

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A County Durham paedophile plied children with cannabis and infected a 10-year-old with a sexually transmitted disease following an assault.

Dale Edwards forced children to consume cannabis on a regular basis before going on to infect one with an STI. The 29-year-old made threats to the children so that they would not tell anyone about what he was doing, but he was finally caught when a parent became aware.

Edwards, of Wheatley Hill, County Durham, denied sexually assaulting the child but eventually pleaded guilty to the charge two days into his trial at Durham Crown Court. He appeared back at the court on Friday, via link from HMP Durham, to be sentenced for sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and three counts of child cruelty.

Paul Cleasby, prosecuting, said the offences were committed during the first covid lockdown in 2020. He told the court that the offences involving the cannabis came to light when a child "disclosed" to a parent that Edwards had made them "eat and drink" the drug in a park, and warned them not to tell anyone.

The police then became involved and the children were spoken to by officers, where they explained what had happened. But days later, one of the children, a 10-year-old, told their parent that Edwards had also sexually assaulted them. Specialist police officers then interviewed the child. Mr Cleasby told the court that tests on the child also revealed they had been infected with chlamydia and Edwards was arrested.

The court heard Edwards had 16 previous convictions for 35 offences, including theft, criminal damage, robbery, and attempted burglary. He had no previous convictions for sexual offending.

Chris Baker, defending, said: "Since 2011, other than two relatively minor matters, he has avoided acting in a criminal way. This will be his first substantial custodial sentence. He does have some issues with mental health and he believes he has bi-polar issues. He is, to some extent, vulnerable and self-harms. His arms are heavily marked as a result of this." Mr Baker added: "He wishes to ensure that nothing like this happens again and apologises to the complainants."

Sentencing Edwards, Recorder Thomas Moran, said: "You engaged in extraordinary behaviour by making children consume cannabis, either by smoking, eating it, or blowing it in their face. It happened over a period of a few weeks." Speaking of the child Edwards sexually assaulted, the recorder added: "The child was medically examined and it was found they had the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia, which added to the distress."

Edwards was jailed for 10 years and six months, with an extended licence period of 12 months. He will be on the sex offender's register for life and was made subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. An indefinite restraining order was also imposed.

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A MAN who made his now ex-partner suffer from two years' of his bullying and angry outbursts during their relationship is now behind bars. Christopher Barfe was given a 32-month prison sentence for his violent and controlling behaviour with his former partner. But he also received a further, consecutive sentence of two years for sexual offences committed in drink against an underage girl in a separate case. The 33-year-old defendant, of South Street, Sherburn Village, who admitted some of the offences, but who denied and was convicted of the sex matters after a trial earlier this year, received the total sentence of 56-months at Durham Crown Court, after victim statements were read to the hearing. Jane Waugh, prosecuting, described Barfes controlling behaviour during the relationship as, persistent, over a prolonged period, with the use of multiple methods and a fear of violence on many occasions, causing significant psychological harm. His assaults on the fearful woman included hair pulling, kicking and strangulation, and led to the victim moving house to escape the trauma, suffering flashbacks from the ordeal. He would regularly check her phone, accusing her of infidelity, and he even set up a fake alias account to check her online activity. When a male associate made a comment saying he liked a picture of her on her Instagram page, Barfe went into a rage, calling her poison, and, the worst woman I ever met. He put his hands to her throat, choked her until she fell to the floor crying in pain, while on another occasion Barfe took out a gun he owned and she feared she would be shot, while he also told her he would, chop her up. Among her injuries were a blackened eye and cuts about the head. Miss Waugh said the offences with the girl involved inappropriate kissing and performing a sex act in her presence. Barfe denied all the offences at his initial crown court hearing, but subsequently admitted three charges of assault against his ex-partner and on the day of trial, a further count of controlling and coercive behaviour in a relationship. But he was convicted after a three-day trial of two counts of sexual assault and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. Brian Russell, for Barfe, said he was only lightly previously convicted and, since being remanded in custody, after the trial verdicts in January, has acknowledged the offences committed against the girl. He does genuinely appear to have acknowledged the harm he has done, unlike most defendants who wallow in denial. Mr Russell added that much of the defendants offending was against a background of, his unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Jailing him, Judge Ray Singh told Barfe: You were, Im afraid to say, a bully. He made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order forbidding unsupervised contact with underage girls, as well as notification as a sex offender, both for ten years. Retraining orders also prohibit him from contacting or approaching either victim, also for ten years.

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A Guisborough man who has lost parts of his brain in a head injury has been sent to jail after breaching a court order.

Darren Drury, 59, was handed a sexual harm prevention order by a judge in 2017, after he admitted making indecent images of children.

But Teesside Crown Court has heard that Drury, 59, broke the order when he was found to have an Amazon account and a Vanquis financial account, that he failed to tell police about.

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said that Drury had also deleted items from his computer, which is against the terms of his court order; as well as using an online alias "GoodshotMcGraw"

Ms Haigh told the court that offender managers have visited Drury 24 times, and have discussed the terms of his sexual harm prevention order with him, so he must have known what online activity he was not allowed to carry out.

Drury, of of Aislaby Court, Guisborough, pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order and to three counts of failing to comply with notification requirements, at earlier hearings.

Defence barrister Christine Egerton told the court that her client said he had set up the "GoodshotMcGraw" alias years back, for an online poker site; and that he thought police could retrieve items he deleted on his computer from the recycling bin.

Ms Egerton said that Drury had suffered a significant head injury in 2009 and she told the judge that if he looked at Drury's right side he would see "he does not have parts of his skull, he has a metal plate there. He has lots parts of his brain and his cognitive function. He has a brain injury".

But Judge Howard Crowson told Drury he had read his probation report, which found he had a "dismissive attitude" towards the need to comply with orders. The court heard that Drury could be "argumentative" on occasion.

Pointing to his history of breaching court orders, the judge jailed Drury for 12 months, telling him "Let's hope you make it a new resolution to take these orders more seriously in the future".

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Today Shannon Anderson age 24 from Seaham appeared at court for sentencing with regards to her guilty plea of sexual activity with a child where she received :

- 2 years imprisonment suspended for 2 years

- 10 years sex offenders register

- No un-supervised contact with any male under 16

Shannon has been given custody of her 1 year old child she already has and will keep the child she is pregnant with at the moment which is due in 7 weeks.

Shannon must inform her family members of her conviction if she wants to see them and they have male children under 16.

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A MAN with a previous conviction for sexually communicating with underage girls, briefly lapsed back to his former ways after making contact with what he was told was a 12-year-old female.

Durham Crown Court heard that Darren Thompson had not gone looking to communicate with an underage girl when he accessed an adult internet chat site on his mobile phone on January 13.

But having engaged in chat with someone describing herself as, Bored 18-year-old Tyne and Wear, the user informed him she was a 12-year-old.

Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said, unknown to Thompson, he was actually chatting to an undercover police officer.

He quickly moved the messaging onto snapchat and was sent an image portraying a 12-year-old girl, but he responded by sending intimate images of himself, one after having apparently performed a sex act.

Miss Khan said within days of the chat it was found Thompson had deleted the account, in breach of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), imposed after he received a suspended prison sentence for his previous offending, at Durham Crown Court in 2016.

The terms of the order prohibited him from deleting his internet history.

Thompson was arrested and interviewed, and made admissions over his online activity, at a time when he said he was, feeling low.

Miss Khan said Thompson told police he just wanted to communicate with anyone, and, it could have been a child, or anyone, but he accepted he continued even when told of the supposed age of the girl he believed he was chatting to, on January 13.

He told police he regretted it and told them he wanted counselling to address his sexual attraction to children.

The 36-year-old defendant, of Dorset Crescent, Moorside, Consett, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and breaching a SHPO.

Chris Morrison, in mitigation, said Thompson was using an open forum and his intention was, not to target a minor.

Having become clear he was chatting with what he thought was a 12-year-old he felt deeply ashamed and deleted the conversation and the material on his phone before police, got in touch.

There was no attempt to cover any of his other internet activity.

Mr Morrison said, on any objective view, this was a victimless crime, which could not be considered, persistent.

He added: It was an aberration, a foolish and self-destructive act.

Imposing a 14-month prison sentence, Judge James Adkin told Thompson: The problem is you seem unable to prevent yourself from behaving in this way.

The existing SHPO will remain in place, but Thompson is now subject to registration as a sex offender for life.

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THE fall from grace of an ex-Radio 1 presenter is now complete as he is jailed for 12 years for grotesque child sex offences. Mark Page paid money to sexually exploit vulnerable Filipino children for his own depraved sexual gratification. The 63-year-old pervert even haggled over the price when he was arranging to have sex with a teenage boy and a 12-year-old girl. Teesside Crown Court heard how he signed up to an online dating agency, Filipino Cupid, before engaging in sexually explicit conversations with a young girl and offering to pay them to perform sex acts. Page then travelled to the Philippines with the intention of fulfilling his sexual fantasies of sexual abusing young girls and a teenage boy. Judge Paul Watson QC told the defendant that he was a serial sexual offender over a three-year period. He said: The offence for which you have been convicted involve the grotesque sexual abuse of young children for your own sexual gratification. You took advantage of their poverty and deprivation in an under-developed country where children are routinely forces through deprivation into acts of prostitution. Your sole purpose was to engage children, as young as 12, in vile sexual activity to satisfy your perverted appetites. "It did not matter to you that you were robbing them of the innocence of their childhoods, it did not matter to you what long-term trauma and emotional damage you were leading them to. "You obviously delighted in their humiliation and the satisfaction of your own corrupt sexual desires. This was, in my view, the very embodiment of depravity and only a substantial custodial sentence can be justified. The judge told Page that if his offences had occurred in this country he would have been facing charges of rape where sexual activity took place. The defendant was found guilty of four charges of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence between August 2016, and April 2019. He was cleared of a fifth charge. Hiding behind his charity work and radio businesses, Page made regular visits to the Far East but also took full advantage of Skype calls to fulfil his depraved sexual behaviour by paying children to perform sex acts online. He used a number of aliases to set up dating website profiles and Skype accounts in an attempt to mask his true identity, the jurors heard during the trial. Page shared a number of messages with a woman called LovelyZamora7 while he was making arrangements for children to be sent to his hotel when he travelled to the Philippines. In a series of explicit messages before his arrival and after he stayed at a hotel in the Makati area, Page asked the girl to arrange for him to have sex with a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy. Jo Kidd, prosecuting, said payments made from Pages credit card showed the cash had been sent to an account based in the Philippines. Records from Western Union showed how Page made 164 payments to individuals in the Far East, including Thailand and Philippines, over a number of years. The jury heard there was a number of messages between Page and the girl where they are discussing how much it would cost to meet up. Several hours later, there was another message from Page simply saying thanks babe. Throughout the trial Page, of Snowdrop Close, Stockton, maintained that his online accounts had been hacked as someone tried to frame him for the sex crimes. He was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

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A dangerous sex offender who targets children is campaigning to be chemically castrated, a court was told when he was sentenced to ten years Ashley Colville, 31, formerly from Peterlee, has briefed his defence team to push the Prison Service to speed up his castration using drugs. He was previously top of of the list, his defence barrister Shada Mellor told Teesside Crown Court. Colville has five convictions for 17 offences relating to child sex and breaches of court orders. Prosecutor Tom Mitchell said that a woman police officer monitoring his behaviour after his release from prison found that he had an illegal mobile phone from which 350 messages had been deleted. Technical experts discovered that he had been in touch with a person claiming to be the mother of a girl who she sexually abused as they messaged. Police were unable to trace the named woman despite a nationwide hunt, said Mr Mitchell. Judge Jonathan Carroll dismissed Colvilles claim that it was a fantasy, saying that he was convinced that Colville believed that he was in touch with a like-minded woman who was sexually abusing her child. Miss Mellor said that Colville, who appeared over a videolink from Durham Prison, had been in custody for 27 months after having been re-called for breaching his licence which would not count towards his new sentence. She added:He is willing to engage in chemical castration. He says that is because he does not want to spend the remainder of his life in and out of prison. He is fighting for this assistance. He asked those instructing me to campaign on his behalf to find out which prisons are able to offer him the medication. He was top of the list but for various reasons including the epidemic he ceased to be so. The judge told him: In my judgment you believed that you were talking to an adult female and that she had a a female child and that she was engaging in sexual abusing that child Over a number of hours you engaged in quite repugnant conversations with her , a form of conversation that is shocking to any right-minded person. In September 2010 Colville pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a 16 year old girl in a shop, and in January 2014 he pleaded guilty to 11 offences of possessing indecent photographs of children In April 2015 he pleaded guilty to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order when he had a phone which he had not declared. He was jailed for five years for inciting a girl for sex He was jailed for 54 months in July 2018 for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child In November 2020 a woman with four children including a 14 year old girl received a Friendship request from him on Facebook. The police officer visited his home on 16 November 2020 Colville, formerly of Cotswold place, Peterlee and later the Nelson Street Bail Hostel in South Bank, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to 10 years with six years custody and four years on extended licence after he pleaded guilty to two breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was convicted of arranging or facilitating a child sex offence The SHPO will last for life and he must register as a sex offender for for life

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A former Countdown contestant who encouraged the abuse of a child in the US has been jailed for 12 years. Craig Chittenden, 33, of Willington, County Durham, persuaded a woman to abuse her daughter as he watched. He was caught after arranging a visit online to abuse a child in the UK, but was snared by an undercover officer. When police visited his home, they found almost 1,000 indecent images. At Durham Crown Court, he admitted seven sex offences. Chittenden, of Hall Lane Estate, appeared on the Channel 4 show as a 22-year-old student in 2010, and enjoyed a winning streak before he was beaten in the semi-final. 'Emotionless and detached' Police in Durham were alerted by FBI special agents in Dallas, Texas, that he had been exchanging messages with a suspect who had been abusing her child while he watched. She has also been jailed. Chittenden pleaded guilty to a charge of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence, inciting the sexual exploitation of girl under 13, possessing extreme pornography, distributing indecent photographs and three counts of making indecent photographs. Prosecutor Jane Waugh said Chittenden shared 24 indecent images of children during a conversation with another paedophile in February 2020, where he discussed the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young child. She said when arrested and interviewed by detectives, he dismissed the discussions as "fantasy and escapism". 'Fallen down a rabbit hole' The court heard that when police visited his home they found almost 1,000 abuse images and over four hours of video footage, as well as extreme animal pornography. Multiple devices were seized and examined which revealed Chittenden had been making contact with paedophiles in the US and inciting sexual acts on young children. Chittenden described a planned visit to the south of England to abuse a child as a "fantasy" and that he had "fallen down a rabbit hole" into new areas of abuse. Sentencing, Judge Ray Singh said Chittenden had "remained emotionless and detached". "There was a clear interest in sadistic torture, extreme violence and sexual offences towards children," he said. "In my view you are a dangerous offender." Det Con Georgina Lewis from Durham Police said: "Chittenden is a sexual predator who tried to hide his crimes online and encourage like-minded individuals in the USA to carry out sex acts on children. "This was a complex investigation but thanks to the collaborative investigative efforts between Texas police and ourselves he was left with no option but to plead guilty."

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A perverted sports masseur who sexually assaulted female clients after asking them to strip naked has been jailed.

Steven Goss groped the women during treatments at his sports massage business, which he ran for six years in County Durham.

The 54-year-old had already been jailed for 21 months for the same type of offending, but was hauled in front of a judge once again after more victims came forward.

Goss, of Mount Pleasant, Dipton, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for seven counts of sexual assault.

The offences were committed between 2014 and 2017.

The court heard Goss ran a sports massage business and would carry out sexual assaults on lone female clients, sometimes when his wife was also working at the premises.

He would "lock the door" when massaging the women and would ask some to be "fully naked" or "semi-naked" during the treatment.

The court heard Goss sexually assaulted one woman during a two-hour long massage, despite her only expecting an hour-long treatment.

Goss made "inappropriate sexual comments" to another woman before sexually assaulting her as he was "wrapping towels" around her.

Another victim made a number of trips to see Goss for massages, and said she was sexually assaulted during "75% of her visits to him".

The court heard that victims were left "embarrassed", with one woman "regretting not reporting it sooner".

Another had become "withdrawn".

One victim read out a statement in court where she said she had "supressed what had happened" and was left feeling "worthless".

She said she thought she would "never be believed" and that her recovery will be a "long journey".

Tony Davis, defending, said Goss had a "distinguished career in the Armed Forces", but has now "lost his reputation and livelihood".

He said he will "forever carry the stigma" of being a sex offender and can no longer work in the sports therapy industry.

Mr Davis added that over the six years of working as a masseur, Goss had massaged around 5,000 people, a "great many" of which "spoke of no inappropriate behaviour".

Sentencing Goss, Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, said he had committed "serious sexual offending".

Goss was jailed for four years and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

A lifelong sexual harm prevention order was also made as well as a lifelong restraining order.

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A County Durham paedophile who branded himself a "proper perv" has been caged for making and distributing child abuse images.

Lee Aston was found in possession of sickening indecent images when police went to his home on September 15, 2020.

The 40-year-old had vile images and videos stored on a mobile phone and committed the offences between October 2018 and September 2020.

Aston appeared at Durham Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for charges of making and distributing indecent images.

The court heard that police went to his home and seized a Sony mobile phone, which was later found to contain child abuse images and videos.

Aston had 11 images and 56 videos in category A, 49 images and nine videos in category C, and 13 images and 10 videos in category B.

Aston, who had no previous convictions, had also distributed some images and videos to other paedophiles via the Telegram app.

The court heard that conversations were also discovered, where Aston had branded himself a "proper perv".

When arrested, he admitted what he'd done and said he would access the material at home and that some depicted children between the ages of "four and five-years-old".

He also admitted sending abuse images via social media and said what he was doing made him "feel sick".

John Nixon, mitigating, said Aston, of Rowan Court, Spennymoor, had offered an "early guilty plea" and had shown "remorse and regret".

He said when young, Aston's parents had both died and he now suffered from depression and had alcohol issues.

Mr Nixon added that Aston was at a "low risk" of reoffending and had "worked all his life".

Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, jailed Aston for 18 months and made him subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

He will also be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

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A SEX offender taken in by a woman to give him a chance on release from prison, tried to entice her daughter to snuggle in with him on the sofa on the first night, a court heard. Joshua Bate, who is now said to identify as a female, Lily, was jailed for seven years in 2015 for rape of a young woman after entering her flat and removing her clothing. Durham Crown Court heard that after release on licence, Bate sexually assaulted a school girl on a bus and was jailed for a further six months, in 2020, while also having to serve the full remainder of the original seven-year sentence. Chris Baker, prosecuting, said Bate was released from prison in the Midlands on New Years Eve and after joining a Facebook group, was invited to stay at the home of a woman in County Durham, who thought he/she should be given a chance. Having travelled by train northwards, Bate was met by her at Durham station and went to stay at her home, on January 3. The plan was for Bate to sleep on the sofa and not to go upstairs, where her daughters were in their bedrooms. Mr Baker said during the first night, the womans 12-year-old daughter went into her bedroom and showed her messages sent from a phone, registered as Lilys. In them the girl was invited to creep downstairs and to snuggle in under the covers with Bate, where they could lie, face to face. Bate also asked the girl: Do you mind if my hands wander and we kiss on the lips. Dont feel awkward. This is our secret She was also told to only come downstairs if her sisters were asleep. The girl replied that Bate was, being a paedo and blocked further messages. Mr Baker told the court that on seeing the messages the girls mother got out of bed and contacted the police as well as confronting Bate, who was arrested. When interviewed, Bate admitted having sent the messages and said they were sexually motivated. Bate regretted it and said it would have been, limited to kissing and cuddling, but accepted posing a risk to children and being unable to control himself/herself, in the presence of children. In her victim statement, the girls mother told the court she now regretted the snap decision to allow Bate to stay at her home, adding: He says he wishes to change sex and identity. Hes a sex offender no matter what changes he makes. I feel hes a danger to everybody, but particularly vulnerable people and younger girls. Bate, 25, now care/of HMP Durham, admitted inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity. Peter Sabiston, mitigating, said the defendant has not sought to minimise the offending and, there was clearly immediate remorse when confronted. It was a simple and short grooming incident, a short incitement. Mr Sabiston said Bate, accepted there would have been some sexual contact, but certainly not serious and penetrative activity. Judge Ray Singh said he considers Bate poses a significant risk of serious offending and, therefore, passed an extended 40-month prison sentence, to protect the public. It means Bate must serve two-thirds of the sentence before being eligible to apply for parole and may have to serve the entire 40-months. On release, Bate will be subject to five years extended licence period. Bate was made subject of a lifetime restraining order relating to the girl, plus indefinite registration as a sex offender, while also being subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, again indefinitely.