ETHAN HARRISON, CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER, DECEIVES PLYMOUTH FAMILY
In May 2014, Ethan Harrison, a 31-year-old convicted sex offender, was convicted for deceitfully ingratiating himself into the life of a family in Plymouth while hiding his criminal history.Plymouth Crown Court was told that Harrison, previously under a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), managed to befriend a 14-year-old girl by concealing his past.
Police later found nearly 900 indecent images of children on his laptop.
Recorder Donald Tait sentenced Harrison to three years in prison, stating, “Your behaviour is ingrained and you are a potential danger to children in society.
You are a plausible individual and you wheedled your way into the life of the family, who took you at face value, not knowing what sort of person you really are.” Crown Prosecution Service representative Alistair Verheijen explained that the girl’s mother had posted an advertisement seeking a dog for her daughter.
Harrison and his partner arrived at the family’s home with a border collie, after which they started talking.
Harrison asked to keep in contact over the dog, leading to him befriending the family.
Evidence showed Harrison took the girl swimming with his partner and even slept on a bean bag on the floor.
Despite the close relationship, Harrison never disclosed his past to the family.
Authorities later discovered he was in possession of 891 indecent images of children.
Harrison was also subject to a SOPO which prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with under-16s and from living in a house with a child unless specific permissions were obtained.
The court heard that Harrison, formerly residing on Union Street in Stonehouse, failed to register his address with police as required by law.
He has previous convictions for indecent assault, possession of indecent images, and violations of his court orders.
Defence representative Mackenzie Robinson stated that although Harrison shared a room with the girl, there was no assault.
Recorder Tait emphasized the importance of his sentence as a warning to others, noting, “Harrison had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Notification Requirement and one of failing to sign on as required by the Sex Offender Register.
He also admitted making two indecent images of children.”
