October 2014 Sex attacker forced teenager to put hand down trousers in broad daylight A SEX attacker who assaulted a teenage girl in broad daylight has been jailed for a year. George Dowse, 29, forced the victim’s hand down his trousers and tried to kiss her after he approached her in Peterlee. He was found guilty of one count of sexual assault after a trial at Teesside Crown Court in August. The victim told in a statement she still does not feel comfortable when out alone and is always looking over her shoulder. Judge Howard Crowson said he could not suspend the 12-month jail term so as to encourage victims in other cases to come forward. Dowse, of Sledmere Close, Peterlee, was also slapped with a restraining order and will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years. August 2014 Peterlee father-of-two faces jail after sex assault conviction A FATHER of two faces jail after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl in broad daylight. The jury in the trial of George Dowse at Teesside Crown Court took more than five hours to return a guilty verdict. They had previously been given a majority direction by Judge Howard Crowson, the trial judge. Dowse, 29, of Sledmere Close, Peterlee, was accused of cycling up to the teenager as she ran an errand to the bank for her father. He was said to have grabbed her hand, thrust it down her trousers and tried to kiss her. The nightshift worker denied sexual assault on September 18 2012. He was found not guilty of a second charge of attempted sexual assault involving the same victim on October 6 2012. Dowse’s partner, who gave evidence during his trial, sobbed at the verdict and was comforted by relatives and friends who accompanied her in the public gallery. Judge Crowson told Dowse: “A prison sentence is often what follows for this type of offending.” The judge agreed to a request from William Davison, for Dowse, for a pre-sentence report. He will be sentenced on September 18 and was granted bail in the meantime.