Youth justice worker admits sex affair with teen offender.

A youth justice worker engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenager she was overseeing while he was going through proceedings for "very serious offending," a court was told.

Jade Newbould, 29, received a 12-month prison sentence at Newcastle Crown Court for what a judge described as "highly inappropriate and unprofessional" conduct, in breach of the trust placed in those performing her role.

Newbould, of previous good character, admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust at a plea hearing in December.

The court heard that Newbould, employed by an outside agency, was working on a one-to-one basis with young people charged with criminal offences. She began a sexual relationship with a male teenager who was on bail ahead of trial at the crown court for "very serious offending."

The offending took place during 25 hours a week of activity with the child, permitted under his bail conditions. Despite her efforts to keep their relationship covert, it came to the attention of others who reported their suspicions to police, leading to Newbould's arrest.

When confronted with the allegations, Newbould made no reply other than to deny the inappropriate relationship. She was bailed and further interviewed several months later but still made no comment. The youth involved declined to assist the police inquiry or make any complaint.

However, analysis of items recovered from her home and particularly of her phone messaging, plus chat logs to prison after the youth was sentenced, enabled the police to bring charges.

The prosecution revealed that despite being told to communicate with youths only on their work phone, Newbould used her own phone to exchange more than 17,000 messages with the teenager over a two-month period.

Among these messages were numerous conversations of a sexual nature. The prosecution argued that while Newbould knew she could not initiate sexual relations, she encouraged the teenager to make advances towards her.

Their messaging progressed from flirtatious to discussing sexual touching. After they engaged in kissing, the young person told her they should "keep it between themselves," to which Newbould responded: "You don't need to tell me that, I'm risking more than you." She told him they were a perfect match and they discussed having oral sex, some of which took place during visits to the cinema after his court hearings.

Newbould also discussed with her young client going to her house for sexual activity and mentioned contraception methods they should use. She would pick him up and take him there, where she referred to them "being at it like rabbits." Newbould even told the youth she loved him and had his first name tattooed on her stomach.

Following one encounter, she told him it was the "best job she had ever had" as she "got to have sex with a young person."

After the young offender's imprisonment following his conviction, Newbould would visit him in custody and transfer money to his prison account, even though her professional dealings with him should have ceased.

She left her employment a month after the youth's imprisonment, aware that inquiries were being made into her activities with him.

The prosecution argued that there was a significant degree of planning and grooming behavior, including thousands of messages, flirting, and gaining his trust, even before any sexual activity took place.

Newbould's defense lawyer acknowledged that her actions were wrong and that she looked back on them with shame and embarrassment. He described her as a "useful and productive member of society" who had lost her career and good name as a consequence of her offending.

He argued that Newbould had suffered some upheaval in her life as a teenager and was at an emotional low ebb at the time she first encountered the young person. She was in a depressed state and vulnerable to flattery.

The judge, Tim Gittins, acknowledged that it was natural for Newbould to foster a working relationship with her young client but said this should remain professional, distant, and objective, given the "significant emotional and psychological pressure" the youth would have been feeling approaching trial for a serious matter.

He noted the "large number of messages, more than 17,000, demonstrate the extent of that unprofessional and inappropriate contact, regularly highly sexual in content, and it's clear you engaged in planning sexual activity, which occurred."

Judge Gittins said that a moment's rational thought in her professional life should have told her that her actions were wholly inappropriate, given the age of the victim, the disparity in ages, and the nature of her professional contact with him.

Despite accepting the probation report's opinion that Newbould represented a low risk of future similar offending, Judge Gittins said that people with a responsibility for children and young people should realize only an immediate term of custody can be justified given the nature of the offending.

He imposed a 12-month prison sentence and made Newbould the subject of registration as a sex offender for ten years. She will also be barred for life from working with young or vulnerable people.