Groomed and manipulated a young boy for his own sexual gratification.

Former missionary jailed for grooming young boy

Martyn Fryatt, 71, has been sentenced to one year and two months in prison for grooming a young boy and sending him sexually explicit material.

Over the course of a year, Fryatt sent the child sexually explicit messages, images, and videos of naked men and young boys. He repeatedly instructed the boy to delete the content to avoid detection by his parents.

The boy's mother discovered the inappropriate material on her son's phone and contacted the police. A subsequent investigation uncovered numerous sexually explicit WhatsApp messages exchanged between Fryatt and the child, along with images and videos of men and young boys exposing themselves.

Fryatt, a resident of Burnopfield, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including making indecent images of a child, possessing prohibited images of a child, and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

He was sentenced at Durham Crown Court on August 20. In addition to his prison sentence, Fryatt was also subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offender register for ten years.