THORNABY SEX OFFENDER CHLEO SUNTER CAUGHT SECRETLY RECORDING MEN AT MIDDLESBROUGH AND DARLINGTON

In a disturbing case that has shocked the local community, Chleo Sunter, a registered sex offender from Thornaby, was found to have engaged in covertly recording men using public restrooms at various locations in the Teesside area. The incident came to light after authorities uncovered a significant collection of illicit material stored on her phone, revealing her disturbing pattern of voyeuristic behavior.

According to court records, Sunter, aged 37, was caught with a total of 790 photographs and 15 videos depicting men inside toilet cubicles and standing at urinals. These recordings were made in the men's toilets at an Aldi supermarket and a shopping centre in Middlesbrough, as well as at Darlington Train Station. The nature of these recordings indicates a deliberate effort to capture men in private moments without their consent, raising serious concerns about her motives and the violation of personal privacy.

Sunter, who was previously known by her birth name John Leslie Graham, admitted to her involvement in these offences during a hearing at Teesside Crown Court on a recent Wednesday. She pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, which involved recording individuals engaged in private acts with the intent of deriving sexual gratification from viewing the images, knowing that the subjects had not consented to being recorded. These offences took place between January and November 2023.

In addition to her voyeurism charges, Sunter also confessed to six breaches of a sexual harm prevention order that had been previously imposed on her. This order was originally issued following her conviction for sexual assault in 2012, when she was still known as John Leslie Graham. Her criminal record also includes a conviction in 2014 for possession of extreme pornographic images. Over the years, she has appeared in court multiple times for violating the terms of her sexual harm prevention order, including an incident in 2018 when she was caught using an alias on a dating website.

The recent discovery of her illicit material occurred during a routine check by her sex offender manager, who visited her residence in Thornaby to verify her compliance with the court-mandated restrictions. During this visit, authorities found that Sunter’s phone contained numerous images and videos of victims using public facilities near Middlesbrough’s Captain Cook Square shopping centre, at an Aldi store in Middlesbrough, and at Darlington station. Prosecutor Paul Newcombe described the disturbing nature of the recordings, stating, “Some of the males were stood at the urinals. Some were recorded under the cubicles.”

The police investigation intensified when, in November 2023, officers visited her home but found her absent. She was later located nearby. Investigators discovered that she had deleted 695 chat conversations, 712 photographs, and four videos from her Grindr account, a popular gay dating app. Court proceedings revealed that Sunter had also taken measures to conceal her online activity by using incognito mode and resetting her phone to factory settings, further breaching her court orders.

The judge presiding over her case sentenced Sunter to 26 months in prison. In delivering the verdict, he acknowledged her emotional vulnerability but emphasized the seriousness of her actions, stating that custody would be a difficult but necessary step to protect the public from further harm. Sunter, residing on Avon Close in Thornaby, was thus held accountable for her unlawful and invasive conduct, which has left a lasting impact on her victims and the community at large.