Paedophile who groped Wakefield boy in public freed after being given community order
A paedophile who grabbed a boy and put his hand on his leg has been released from custody, after a judge gave him a community order.
James Crow, who has previous convictions for sex offences against children, was held on remand following his arrest, but avoided a jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court this week.
The pervert grabbed the 10-year-old boy in Wakefield on May 11 and ran his hand up his leg until his fingers touched the elastic of his shorts. He asked the boy: “Can I?”
The boy tried to pull away but Crow grabbed him. He eventually got free and told Crow: “No you can’t you weirdo.”
The boy ran and told his mother, who called the police. Crow was arrested later that night and analysis of his internet devices showed that he had been searching for child abuse material that day, and the previous day.
He has four previous convictions, all sexual offences from when he was a juvenile in 2013. This included sexual assault of a child under 13 and three counts of inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity. For those he received a youth referral order.
The 27-year-old, of Maple Grove, Normanton, admitted a charge of sexual assault for his latest offending.
Mitigating, Lily Wildman said Crow had learning difficulties but there had been no “minimisation” of his offending. He added: “He clearly knows the difference between right and wrong. It’s to his credit that he has been candid about what happened.”
Judge Richard Mansell KC acknowledged Crow had spent six months on remand, so opted to give him a 24-month community order, ordered him to enrol in a 43-day sexual offending programme and complete 55 rehabilitation days.
He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and put on the sex offender register for five years.