Former successful businessman and charity worker groomed and groped a teenager.

Former Businessman Jailed for Grooming and Groping Teenager

A former successful businessman and charity worker has been jailed after he groomed and groped a teenager.

Grant Findley, 42, of Stream Valley Farm, Burnhope, Durham, told the schoolgirl he could be her "sugar daddy" when she turned 16 and told her she wouldn't be allowed a boyfriend.

Findley denied ten counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of meeting a child following sexual grooming, but was found guilty by a jury.

At Durham Crown Court on Tuesday, April 9, Judge Jo Kidd sentenced him to three years in prison.

The judge told Findley: "You conducted yourself previously with great hard work, perseverance, and intelligence. You were on the face of it a generous and kind man. That reputation and that behaviour masked your pursuit of a child in order to satisfy your sexual interest in children. Your perception of women was clearly in my view warped and misogynistic."

The victim bravely read an impact statement in court, saying: "Because of what Grant did to me, I now really struggle to trust people, especially men. I now struggle to sleep, suffering repeated nightmares where I relive what Grant did and said to me. I have found the last few years incredibly draining. When Grant was doing it to me, it made me feel dirty. My anxiety has got so bad I can't face answering the door."

Findley must also sign the sex offender's register and be subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.