September 2011 Babysitter Donald Whitehead is jailed for abusing brothers A PAEDOPHILE who abused two young brothers over a number of years at his York home has been jailed. Donald Whitehead’s two victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were aged only five and seven when the abuse started in 2004, York Crown Court heard. Whitehead, who would babysit for the two boys, would force them to share a bed with him and would give the older boy alcohol, prosecution barrister Christopher Attwooll said. The crimes stopped in 2008 when the elder boy refused to go there as he had reached an age where he knew the abuse was wrong, Mr Attwooll said. But Whitehead, of Middleham Avenue, bombarded the elder boy with text messages telling him he “missed him and loved him” and promised he would do nothing wrong if the boys stayed again. The 58-year-old’s actions came to light when the elder boy stayed a final time at Whitehead’s home earlier this year and was abused again. The boy ran away from the house and told his mother what had happened. Whitehead was arrested by police and first denied the allegations. However, he admitted all the charges when he appeared before court in August. Taryn Turner, defending, said Whitehead was remorseful for his actions. She said Whitehead’s own family had disowned him when they discovered what he had done and that Whitehead had also resigned from his job following his arrest. “As a consequence of this, his life has been shattered as well,” she said. “He knows that he is in a very precarious position. “Custody for a man of his age and the matter of his actions that would put him behind bars would make prison a very difficult place.” But Judge Colin Burn told Whitehead his actions were so serious that he would have to serve an immediate jail sentence. He said: “What you did was an appalling breach of trust.” Whitehead was jailed for three years. He was also given a sex offender’s prevention order and has been banned from ever working with children. Det Con Ellie Stephen, of North Yorkshire Police’s protecting vulnerable persons unit, welcomed the sentence. She said: “Donald Whitehead was entrusted with the care of his young victims and he abused that trust in the worst possible way over a sustained period of time. He now has to face up to his deplorable actions while in prison and he will be on the sex offenders’ register for the remainder of his days. This has been a very difficult and traumatic time for the victims and their loved ones. I just hope that they can take some comfort from the outcome at court and start to rebuild their lives.”