Some of the people in court for sickening sex offences in the North East – The Northern Echo

THESE are just some of the sickening sex offenders to face justice recently in the North East.

Rapists, child abusers and perverts have all appeared before Crown Courtfor their abhorrent behaviour.

The child rapist carried out a campaign of horrendous abuse on a young girl has been locked up for 20 years.

James Vayro systematically abused the girl over a protracted period until his reign of terror was finally brought to an end when she bravely spoke out.

The 33-year-old bullied and threatened the youngster into performing a number of sickening sex attacks to satisfy his depraved urges.

James Vayro

Vayro, of Orchard Way, Gainford, Darlington, was found guilty of a number of rapes and sexually assault following a trial.

Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Vayro to 20 years in custody 19 years in prison with an additional year on extended licence for the abuse he carried out on the 'brave and dignified' victim over a number of years.

A MATHS teacher has been jailed for eight months after admitting sexually touching a teenage girl.

Aimee Jones struck up the illicit relationship through text messages with the girl before they started to meet up in local parks where they 'held hands and kissed'.

Teesside Crown Court heard how on one occasion the teacher and the teenager ended up topless in her car and hidden only by a blanket.

The 35-year-old admitted four counts of abusing a position of trust by engaging in sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 17 being cared for in school premises between January 2020 and March 2021.

The illegal relationship continued until Jones, who has a young son, admitted to her husband that she was having an affair.

However, she at first claimed it was with a female teaching assistant at the Darlington school.

Jones, of West Road, Richmond, was jailed for eight months for all offences.

Judge Chris Smith said he accepted the defendant's genuine remorse but told her that an immediate custodial sentence was inevitable.

"They were not overtly sexual messages but they make it plain that you were interested in her, that you found her attractive and that was profoundly inappropriate," he said. "You met her on a number of occasions and your conduct towards her became increasingly sexual."

THE man in charge of Castle Howard for 30 years until 2015 sexually abused a child, a York jury decided.

Allegations that Simon Howard attempted to rape a woman in a separate incident have been left on file.

He will be on the sex offenders register for five years.

The 65-year-old, who now lives in Norton, did not attend any hearing of the case at York Crown Court because psychiatrists declared him mentally unfit to stand trial.

He had suffered irreparable brain damage from a fall at his home in early 2020.

He was not convicted of any crime because his case was dealt with under legislation for defendants who are mentally ill or insane.

His trial was held last month but reporting restrictions meant that it could not be reported until now.

The jury heard the child, now a woman, describe how Howard indecently assaulted her and incited her to commit an act of gross indecency when she was under 10 years old.

They heard she ran straight to tell her mother after the incident and her parent confronted Howard.

Simon Howard, pictured in the chapel at Castle Howard

Following his arrest, Howard told police he remembered being challenged by the mother but denied describing any sexual activity.

He repeatedly denied that he had done anything inappropriate.

The abuse happened shortly after Howard took over running of the stately home.

He was still in charge of Castle Howard when he allegedly attempted to rape a woman.

A MAN who sexually exploited a vulnerable teenager, treating her, as a sex object, is starting a 22-year prison sentence.

Ernest Short carried out the bullying, repellent attacks on the girl, including one when she was unwell, then told her he would commit suicide or commit other forms of self-harm if she were to report them.

Durham Crown Court heard the victim, who only felt strong enough to report the abuse in recent years, has suffered deep psychological trauma as a result, and has resorted to self-harm herself.

The 57-year-old defendant, of The Old Customs House, Borough Road, North Shields, denied the offences, all said to have taken place in County Durham, at a plea hearing at the court, in February.

Ernest Short

He underwent a trial, which was delayed by two hospital visits on his part, in late September and was convicted by the jury on 13 counts, eight of rape and five of indecent assault, on October 4.

Imposing the 22-year sentence, Judge James Adkin told Short he would have to serve two-thirds of the jail term, more than 14 years, behind bars before being released on parole.

He said Short was guilty of bullying, repellent behaviour, describing his crimes as, a litany of exploitative sexual offending, adding: You essentially treated her as a sexual object to use at your whim.

A PERVERT who downloaded and shared sickening child abuse images has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Nathan Lazenby was caught in possession of almost 100 depraved pictures and images when police turned up at the door of his Darlington home.

The 25-year-old had been accessing the vile child abuse images between January 1 year and March 3 this year, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Lazenby pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children and three charges of distribution of indecent images of children.

David Robinson-Young, in mitigation, said his client was ashamed of his behaviour and urged the judge to suspend any custodial sentence.

Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced Lazenby to two years in custody, suspended for two years.

He said: "You don't need me to tell you the general feeling of revulsion in society with people who distribute material of this sort. The possession and distribution of images like this is not a victimless crime, these are invariably real children who have been subjected to real and sometimes unimaginable abuse."

A COMPUTER worker has been jailed for thwarting the efforts of specialist police efforts to access a hard drive suspected of containing images of child sexual abuse.

Christopher Longley was arrested by officers from the North East Regional Special Operations Units (NERSOU) Cyber Crime Department, in March 2015.

The now 57-year-old was suspected of carrying out offences under the Computer Misuse Act, which led to the seizure of a number of devices.

When he was interviewed, Longley denied the allegation, claiming the hard drive had been accidentally encrypted and the key to decrypt it no longer worked.

Christopher Longley

A court order was later granted under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to compel him to provide the correct key to decrypt the hard drive and encrypted file, but he failed to comply.

Longley, of Briar Lea, Shiney Row, denied failing to provide the key to protected information and doing an act/acts intended or tending to pervert the course of justice.

Following a four-day trial at Newcastle Crown Court he was found guilty, on October 1.

On his return to court for sentencing he received a 15-month prison sentence.

Judge Penny Moreland also made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 15 years.

The judge said he had done, whatever he could to frustrate the investigation.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054

Visit link:

Some of the people in court for sickening sex offences in the North East - The Northern Echo