By Grâçia Ada Obi
A convicted child rapist, has been sent back to prison after he was discovered living in the same house as a child. Simon Church was previously sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2014 for three charges of rape and eight counts of rape of a child under 13.
The 46-year-old was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely, which included a prohibition against having a child under 16 in his house for 12 hours or more. However, on July 11 this year, following his release from prison, police conducted an unannounced visit to his address where his partner revealed one of her relatives, a young girl, had stayed at the property.
Prosecutor Emma Swindell informed Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court that the child’s father was contacted. Miss Swindell stated: “He and his child had attended the address in February for dinner and stayed the night. The father was not aware of the defendant’s convictions.
“It was a breach in two ways. He had a child at the address and the child’s parents did not know about his convictions. It was a breach of the notification requirements as the defendant spent 12 hours or more at an address with the child and this was not notified to the relevant authorities.”
Church, of Princes Square, Longport, admitted to two charges of breaching a SHPO and failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders’ register.
Paul Cliff, mitigating, stated: “The Crown’s case has always been there were three occasions when the child was at the house. The defendant was not present on two occasions.
“On the third occasion, when he was not initially present, it was decided that the father and child were going to stay overnight. When he returned they were there. He accepts the child and father stayed in one room and he stayed in the other room with his then partner. He was never left alone but does accept saying hello to the child.”
Mr Cliff mentioned that Church’s partner knew about his convictions but felt too embarrassed to inform her brother. He highlighted that Church works as a lithographer in the pottery industry and plans to return to his job upon release from prison.
Additionally, he pointed out that the father of three has ceased using drugs and doesn’t have alcohol issues. In sentencing Church to eight months in jail, Recorder Richard McConaghy remarked: “Police found out your partner’s niece had been visiting the address. Further enquiries were made and her niece’s parents were not aware of your convictions.
“That child had stayed overnight on one occasion at your address when you had been there, something you knew was not allowed to take place. It put you in breach of your SHPO and in breach of the notification requirements.”
The judge remarked that the harm in this instance appeared ‘not that high’. Recorder McConaghy stated: “You were not left in an unsupervised situation with the child and she slept in a room with her father, distinct from the room you were staying in.”