March 2009 Man jailed for having sex with 15-year-old A PAEDOPHILE had sex with a 15-year-old girl, a court heard. Daniel Cordingley “took advantage” of the girl, who he knew, as she was going through a difficult time, Nottingham Crown Court was told. When he was arrested, police found more than 1,000 indecent images of children on a computer he had been using. Jailing him for three years and three months, Judge Dudley Bennett said: “You were in breach of trust. She was a vulnerable victim. I think you took advantage of her.” Referring to the indecent pictures, the judge added: “If it’s not for people like you prepared to view it, these children would not be exploited and treated in the way that they have been.” Stuart Rafferty, prosecuting, said Cordingley, 26, of Booth Close, St Ann’s, had unprotected sex with the girl four or five times in 2005. He said she had experienced a difficult childhood and had begun to self harm. He said: “To anyone who knew her, there would be little doubt that she was vulnerable but this defendant put his own self interests first.” Mr Rafferty added that the girl was scared of what could happen if she told anyone about Cordingley. She eventually told her mum in August last year. Later that month, Cordingley, who has Asperger’s syndrome, went to a help centre , as he was concerned about having sexual fantasies of children. He told staff there he believed the age of consent for sex should be lowered to 14. He then handed himself into police. When his computer was checked, there were 1,086 indecent pictures of children, including 40 at the most serious level, which involved children as young as two. He claimed he had not been deliberately searching for the images, though his search records included words like “erotic” and “two-year-olds”. Cordingley pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child and having indecent pictures of children. In mitigation, Adrian Reynolds said Cordingley had been affected by his own past. Judge Bennett also banned Cordingley from ever working with children and ordered him to sign the sex offenders’ register.
