In 2018, the Offender Database reported that Damien Pearson, then 27, of Valley Drive, Esh Winning, County Durham, was sentenced at York Crown Court.
Damien Pearson was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of sexual assault and taking indecent images of a female child. The court heard that the offences took place at a property in Whitby between January and April 2017, where Damien Pearson, a former hotel assistant, targeted a young schoolgirl.
The prosecution detailed a harrowing incident where the victim was forced to pretend she was asleep while Damien Pearson sexually assaulted her and took approximately 20 photos of her naked body. The young girl later told the jury that she was “frozen” with fear and remembered the flash of the camera as Damien Pearson pulled her clothes up and down to take the indecent pictures.
The victim eventually informed her mother of the abuse via a handwritten note, leading to Damien Pearson’s arrest on May 16, 2017. Although police seized his mobile phone, forensic analysis revealed that Damien Pearson had restored the device to factory settings to destroy the evidence, knowing that allegations had been made against him.
In addition to his 15-month prison sentence, Damien Pearson was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years. While the jury found him guilty of one count of sexual assault and taking indecent images, he was found not guilty of two further counts of sexual assault that the victim claimed had occurred on previous occasions.
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