June 2019 Former teaching assistant jailed for sexual offences targeting children as young as 12 A former teaching assistant has been jailed for 11 years after pleading guilty to serious sexual offences involving children as young as 12. Gregory Stanton, 22, of Heathfield Avenue, Stone, was sentenced today at Stafford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three sexual offences. Stanton, a teaching assistant at the time the offences were committed, used social media and email to engage in conversations with victims who were aged between 12 and 14. He was arrested last August after intelligence showed a man had been communicating with a 12-year-old girl asking her to send indecent images and videos of herself. Using false names, usernames and email addresses, he incited the victims to send indecent photographs of themselves to him. He also claimed to be recruiting for a modelling agency. He pleaded not guilty to all counts at a previous hearing on February 22 but today admitted making indecent photographs of a child, causing/inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity (penetrative) and causing/inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity (no penetration). Detectives from Staffordshire Police’s Child Protection and Exploitation Team (CPET) began a complex investigation and seized Stanton’s electronic devices. Stanton was sentenced today (June 3) to 11 years and four months. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed on Stanton for 10 years. He will also be required to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.