A paedophile has been put behind bars for four-and-a-half years after he was found engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl at a Newcastle city centre hotel.
Stuart Shorrock, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of penetrative sexual activity with a child, four counts of non penetrative sexual activity with a child, and one count of causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, February 28.
He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and made to sign the sex offender register indefinitely. A restraining order was also imposed preventing him from contacting the victim for five years.
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The court heard the teenage girl had been reported missing to police and following investigations she was tracked to Sleeperz Hotel in Newcastle. British Transport Police officers entered their hotel room and found evidence of sexual activity. Shorrock, of Pope Lane, Preston, was then arrested for sexual exploitation of the girl.
In a police interview, the girl explained how she had met Shorrock online where he had claimed to be 19 years old and that they had met previously at other hotels to engage in sexual activity.
"Shorrock groomed the victim by claiming to be a teenager himself and building an online relationship with her. This is classic predatory behaviour and Shorrock is a dangerous individual who is rightly now behind bars. We would like to thank the victim and her family for their courage supporting this conviction."
The SHPO forbids Shorrock from approaching, touching, or making any attempt to communicate with any female under the age of 16; using any name other than his legal name and correct date of birth to register any social media platforms; deleting any chat history of any kind from any platform/application or installing any encryption or wiping software on any device; undertaking any work that is likely to bring him into unsupervised contact with persons under the age of 16 years; using any name other than his legal name and correct date of birth to make any hotel bookings/reservations for overnight accommodations.
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