May 2023 Convicted sex offender jailed after staying at the home of young mother without telling her about previous convictions A convicted sex offender has been jailed after staying at the home of a young mother without telling her about his previous convictions. David Spencer was made subject of sex offender registration for life when he was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court for seven years for sexual offences with girls, in February 2013. Following his release from custody, the 36-year-old was required to notify police where he was living, what social media accounts he was using, and register his banking details. Teesside Crown Court heard how concerns were raised after he failed to return to his accommodation for several nights and he was eventually located stating at the 18-year-old’s home. Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said: “In August 2022 he was living in supported housing and on a number of occasions he was reported as missing. “The police were made aware he was missing for several nights and it was discovered that he was staying at the home address of an 18-year-old and her young son. “He failed to register that address or that he had stayed there seven nights in a row. The woman had not been made aware of his previous offences.” The court heard how Spencer also used his step-father’s name on a snapchat account, again without notifying the authorities. Miss Haugstad said the defendant was also in possession of two unregistered mobile phones and a bank card. In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was shocked to learn about his previous convictions after she was introduced to him by a friend from a mother and toddlers’ group. She added: “I didn’t know anything about his past but if I had, I wouldn’t have had anything to do with him.” Spencer, formerly of Fencehouses, near Houghton-le-Spring, but whose most recent address was given as care/of a charity-run men’s hostel, in Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, admitted eight charges of failing to comply with the terms of his notification requirements between July 18 and October 12 last year. Victoria Lamballe, mitigating, said her client had made good use of his time on remand to take part in a number of courses. Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced Spencer to 12 months in custody but told him he would be soon released as he had spent seven months on remand. February 2013 A victim of a sex abuser today said she fears more survivors of the serial paedophile have yet to come forward. She spoke out as pervert David Spencer, 26, was jailed for seven years for attacks on seven children. The woman, who was just 13 when Wearsider Spencer started abusing her, said: “Seven years isn’t long enough for a dangerous character like this. “What he did to me left me with little self-confidence, no trust in men, and little ability to build relationships. “He is a danger to society and I think there are more people out there who have been victims of him.” Spencer was just 11 when he started preying on children. In total, he targeted seven girls – who were aged as young as just eight – from the late 1990s. At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday he admitted 26 sexual offences, including indecent assaults and an attempted rapes, dating up to 2011. Four victims were targeted during in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Houghton, where Spencer was living at the time. To prevent his crimes being reported, he would terrify those he abused, warning them they would not be believed if they told. Spencer’s offending halted in the mid 2000s, but in the summer of 2011, his crimes began again. He groomed a group of schoolgirls whom he let stay at his flat in Fence Houses, having unlawful intercourse with two of them, who were aged 15, and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old. One of his victims today said: “The fact there was this gap in his offending, before he started all over again, shows just how dangerous he is. “At the end of the day, he is going to spend maybe as little as half his sentence locked up. “It’s not enough for what he did to all these children.” At Newcastle Crown Court Spencer was also banned from working with children for life and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely. He must abide by the conditions of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to limit his contact with children for the next seven years. Alec Burns, defending, told the court: “He now understands what he was doing. He accepted all along it was wrong.” Mr Burns said Spencer, of no fixed address, suffered a traumatic upbringing and spent time in children’s homes and care.