December 2012 Pervert jailed for four years A PERVERT who gave a 14-year-old Stratford girl ‘options’ over what sex acts he wanted her to perform with him has been jailed for four years. Alex Harradine, who had regularly contacted the girl after meeting her at a wedding they both attended, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life. Harradine, 26, of Grosvenor Road, Luton, had denied five charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one of causing the girl to watch a sex act and one of sexual activity with a child. But he was found guilty by a jury at Warwick Crown Court who also convicted him of attempting to sexually assault a younger girl while babysitting and two charges of causing or inciting that girl to engage in sexual activity. During the trial the Stratford girl’s mother said that in March 2010 she was passing her daughter’s bedroom and heard her tell someone over the phone what time she left for work. She then heard her daughter ask ‘the first choice is?’ and pause before asking what the second and third choices were. The mother found a high volume of contact between her daughter and Harradine by phone and over the internet. When she questioned her, the girl revealed occasions when he had exposed himself and got her to touch him, and he had sexually touched her. She said Harradine had also sent her naked pictures of him sexually holding himself, which she had deleted, and asked her to send him one of her naked, but she had refused. The girl said she had also turned down requests by him to perform sex acts on him and to have intercourse. When Harradine was arrested he answered ‘no comment’ to all questions put to him about his contact with the girl. But further investigations uncovered the fact that he had also abused a girl in Luton when her parents had used him as a babysitter when she was aged nine or ten. Harradine claimed in court that none of the incidents had happened, and accused both girls of lying after trying to blackmail him – but the jury quickly rejected his story. Marion Smullen, defending, said: “This is a young man of previous good character who was in full-time employment. But he is not the most emotionally mature young man. September 2012 Man faces jail for sex acts with Stratford girl A MOTHER was horrified when she learned ‘options’ her 14-year-old daughter had been offered over the phone by a man related to sex acts she was being asked to perform on him. The Stratford girl quickly hung up when her mother walked into the room – but eventually revealed what Alex Harradine had been trying to get her to do. A jury at Warwick Crown Court heard how after meeting the girl at a wedding they both attended, Harradine had contacted her a number of times by phone and over the internet. The 26-year-old tried to persuade her to pose naked for him and to perform various sex acts, and on two occasions when he visited Stratford he succeeded in persuading her to perform a sex act on him. Harradine, of Grosvenor Road, Luton, pleaded not guilty to five charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one of causing the girl to watch a sex act and one of sexual activity with a child. He also denied attempting to sexually assault another, younger girl while babysitting, and two charges of causing or inciting her to engage in sexual activity. But the jury took just under an hour to find him guilty of all ten charges. Remanding Harradine in custody, Judge Marten Coates said: “I think he’s a dangerous man. It’s not just these offences but material found on his phone, about which the jury have not heard.” During the trial the girl’s mother said that in March 2010 she was passing her daughter’s bedroom and heard her tell someone over the phone what time she left for work. She then heard her daughter ask ‘the first choice is’ and pause for the reply before asking in turn what the second and third choices were. When she then heard the girl say she did not want to put ‘that on the computer,’ she went into the room – at which point the girl hung up and shut down her laptop. The mother said she asked who she had been talking to and was told it was Alex, who she said was a boy from school. Harradine called back, only for the phone to go dead when the mother answered, but then rang again and spoke to her, claiming he had been talking to her daughter about different mobile phones he could let her have. He later changed his story and claimed that while he had been out of his room, friends of his had sent messages from his phone and his computer to various people. But the mother found a high volume of contact between her daughter and Harradine by phone and over the internet. And when she sat her daughter down to talk about it, the girl revealed occasions when he had exposed himself and got her to hold him, and he had sexually assaulted her but she had pushed his hand away. She said Harradine had also sent her naked pictures of himself, which she had deleted, and asked her to send him one of her naked, but she had refused. The girl said she had also turned down requests by him to perform sex acts. Her mother called the police, and the girl disclosed to an officer in a recorded interview how Harradine had asked if she would perform sex acts on him when he visited Stratford, and that he had performed sex acts on himself in front of his webcam. When Harradine was arrested he answered ‘no comment’ to all questions put to him about his contact with the girl. But further investigations uncovered the fact he had also abused a girl in Luton when her parents had used him as a babysitter when she was aged nine or ten. Harradine claimed in court none of the incidents had happened and accused both girls of lying after trying to blackmail him – but the jury quickly rejected his story. Judge Coates refused Harradine bail and told him to expect a jail sentence.