Craig Dixon, then aged 35, formerly of Maryport, Cumbria, and recently residing in Stafford, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Carlisle Crown Court after admitting to sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.
The court heard that Dixon committed three separate sexual offences against the young victim during a single encounter.
The victim, a girl in her early teens, confided in her mother following the incident before providing an account to investigating officers from Cumbria Constabulary.
She detailed how she was left frozen in shock and distress as Dixon proceeded to grope her.
When taken into custody, Dixon initially attempted to mislead detectives by fabricating a false account of what had transpired.
However, while detained, Dixon requested a second formal interview with officers, during which he withdrew his previous denials and admitted carrying out the sexual assaults.
The prosecution also revealed to the court that Dixon had previously been investigated by police in connection with other sexual offences.
Passing sentence, the presiding judge condemned his conduct, questioning how an adult could be sexually attracted to a child and issuing a stern warning regarding the threat he presented to young people.
Telling Dixon directly that he represented a real risk to children, the judge ruled that an immediate custodial sentence was the only appropriate outcome.
The judge handed Dixon a custodial sentence of two years (24 months).
Alongside the prison sentence, the court ordered that Dixon remain subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
He was also made subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which places severe restrictions on his everyday movements and prevents him from having any unsupervised contact with female children, outside of accidental or unavoidable contact occurring in ordinary daily life.
Release Calculation: Under UK sentencing legislation governing standard determinate custodial sentences, Dixon is entitled to statutory release on licence at the halfway mark. He is required to serve one-half (12 months / one year) of his 24-month sentence in prison custody before being released on licence to serve the remaining 12 months under strict supervision by the Probation Service in the community.
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