Convicted sex offender has been started a relationship with a woman and failed to tell her about his previous convictions.

Convicted Sex Offender Jailed for Failing to Disclose Past to Partner

A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to jail after he began a relationship with a woman in York without informing her of his previous convictions.

Michael Harris, formerly known as Michael Eddy, evaded detection for over ten months after he initiated the relationship with the unsuspecting woman, as revealed in Teesside Crown Court.

The 48-year-old was found to have also neglected to register two aliases, a bank account, and a credit card with the police. Prosecutor Jonathan Gittins stated that the defendant used the online aliases "Mikey J 1974" and "Michael John" between January 1 and November 2 of this year to establish the relationship before spending all his time in York.

Gittins added, "He did not disclose his conviction to her, and she was taken aback when contacted by the police. She had introduced him to friends and family."

Harris, residing at Fincham Close, Stockton, was a registered sex offender since his conviction in 2011 for sexual activity with an underage girl. He had previously been jailed in 2013 and 2018 for prior breaches of his notification requirements.

The defendant admitted to all five breaches of his notification requirement order between January 1 and November 2 of this year.

In mitigation, Andrew Turton stated that his client sought to settle down with the woman and informed the judge that no children lived at the residence. Turton added, "The meeting with other family occurred on one occasion, and he was never unsupervised at any time. No issues arose as a result of that happening. He did change his name by deed poll, and that was registered with the police."

Sentencing Harris to 32 months imprisonment, Judge Jonathan Carroll remarked, "The purpose of the notification requirements is to enable the appropriate authorities to manage the risk you continue to pose. It's quite clear, both by the original offense and continuing breaches, and past convictions for breaches, and this group of offenses, that you are a continuing risk. You went under the radar again for a significant amount of time for these offenses. The police attempted to visit you trying to carry out periodic checks, and there were 12 failed visits."

Harris was also issued an indefinite restraining order to protect the woman.