May 2012

Middlesbrough sex offender jailed for six-and-a-half years

A CHILD sex offender who “haunted” the life of an under-age girl has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Simon Paul Draper sent the teenage girl a large number of sexually explicit texts and computer chat messages.

Knowing her young age, the 42-year-old asked for pictures of her and suggested meeting up, Teesside Crown Court heard.

She came to his home and had sex with him.

They went on to meet and have sex on many more occasions, prosecutor Shaun Dodds said yesterday.

He brought her to his home and Redcar office, he took her for drives and paid a woman £10 for the use of her bedroom in the Stockton area.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Draper got a “lock” on her life.

He became controlling and she grew scared of him.

He put pressure on her and made threats, including a threat to kill himself when she tried to end their meetings.

Another man took similar advantage of the girl at this time. Her father found explicit messages from him on Facebook and contacted the police.

It was then that she revealed her meetings with Draper.

The other man was jailed last August for two-and-a-half years.

He admitted six charges of sexual activity with a child.

Draper, of Normanby Road, Middlesbrough, admitted six counts of the same offence, his first convictions.

The girl said Draper haunted her life, which she described as “lonely, horrific and chaotic”.

Brian Russell, defending, said Draper felt remorse and shame but it wasn’t a “classic case of grooming”.

His wife stood by him and he wanted to get back to being a “responsible family man”.

He said the offences were improper but the girl reciprocated his advances and she “knew her own mind”.

But Judge Peter Bowers disagreed, saying: “It’s apparent that she didn’t know what was good for her.”

He said Draper’s messages were “entirely out of order”.

He said girls of that age explored sexuality but “they don’t perhaps understand where it can lead and the psychological effect of it”.

He said Draper introduced the girl to sex, damaged her psychologically and undermined her.

Draper was also given a sexual offences prevention order.