Sex offender went babysitting with his girlfriend while keeping his past crimes a secret

George Young was banned from having unsupervised contact with children after he was convicted of having indecent images and given a suspended prison sentence in 2018.

As a result of the conviction, the 41-year-old, was ordered to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order, which meant he must keep the authorities informed of his whereabouts and allow unrestricted access to his computer devices.

Newcastle Crown Court heard when police attended his home in Sunderland in July last year to carry out a risk review he removed cables from his computer, which prevented proper access.

During the visit Young, who also has an earlier conviction for sexual offending against a teenager, mentioned he had been in a recent, three month relationship with a woman but refused to reveal her identity.

Prosecutor Andrew Finlay told the court police tracked down the woman and spoke to her.

Mr Finlay told the court: "She said she wasn't aware of his convictions for sexual offences.

"She also stated the defendant had stayed overnight with her at her daughter's address, where there are two children, on two separate occasions."

The court heard one of the visits had been for a family gathering and the other had been to babysit.

Mr Finlay added: "On the second occasion she states there were times during the evening the defendant had been left alone with

one of the children while she went to the toilet or kitchen."

The court heard Young had also stayed overnight at his girlfriend's home, where there were no children, on multiple occasions, without informing the police as he should have.

Young, of no fixed address, admitted failure to comply with notification requirements and breach of sexual harm prevention order.

The court heard there was no complaint of any wrongdoing by Young towards the children and nothing illegal was found on his computer devices when they were searched.

Judge Julie Clemitson told him: "You had not told your partner or her daughter about your convictions or the sexual harm prevention order.

"Neither would have been aware of any risk you might have posed to the children, neither alert to the need to take steps to

ensure they were kept safe."

Judge Clemitson said Young wilfully refuses to comply with the requirements of the orders he must abide by and told him: "You present a significant risk of further offending of a sexual nature, whether in relation to indecent images online or more direct offences."

The judge jailed Young for 22 months.

Jamie Adams, defending, said Young, who has been in custody on remand for more than a year and will be released imminently, has significant health problems and has "no-one to help him" after his mother said she does not want him at her home.

Mr Adams added: "There is a human being there. He has suffered quite a lot now."

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