May 2014
Convicted sex offender tricked his way into life of Plymouth family
A CONVICTED sex offender branded a danger to children befriended a 14-year-old girl in breach of a court order.
Ethan Harrison, aged 31, worked his way into the affections of a city family while hiding his vile past, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
Police who caught up with him found nearly 900 indecent images of children on his computer.
Jailing him for three years, Recorder Donald Tait told him: “Your behaviour is ingrained and you are a potential danger to children in society.
“You are a plausible individual and you wheedled your way into the life of the family, who took you at face value, not knowing what sort of person you really are.”
Alistair Verheijen, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the girl’s mother advertised for a dog for her daughter.
He added that Harrison and his partner turned up on their doorstep with a border collie.
Mr Verheijen said that they got talking and Harrison asked to stay in touch for the sake of the dog.
He added that Harrison befriended the family, taking the girl swimming with his partner and sleeping on a bean bag on the floor.
The court heard that police caught up with Harrison – who had never told the family of his past.
He was found to have 891 indecent images on his laptop computer.
Mr Verheijen said Harrison was subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which banned him from having unsupervised contact with under-16s.
He was also barred from staying in the same house as a child, unless the parents knew of his previous convictions and social workers had given express permission.
The court heard Harrison, formerly of Union Street, Stonehouse, had failed to register his address with the police as required by law.
Harrison has previous convictions for indecent assault, possession of indecent images and breaches of the order.
Mackenzie Robinson, for Harrison, said that despite sleeping in the same room, he had not assaulted the girl.
Recorder Tait said he had to pass a sentence to deter other from breaching court orders.
Harrison had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Notification Requirement and one of failing to sign on as required by the Sex Offender Register. He also admitted two counts of making indecent images of children.
