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Former teaching assistant jailed for 11 years over child sex offences

A former teaching assistant has been jailed for 11 years after pleading guilty to serious sexual offences involving children.

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Gregory Stanton

Gregory Stanton, 22, of Heathfield Avenue, Stone, was sentenced today at Stafford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three sexual offences.

He was arrested at his home address last August after intelligence showed a man had been communicating with a girl asking her to send indecent images and videos of herself.

Detectives from Staffordshire Police's Child Protection and Exploitation Team began a complex investigation and seized Stanton’s electronic devices.

Staffordshire Police said Stanton, a teaching assistant at the time the offences were committed, used social media and email to engage in conversations with victims.

He pleaded not guilty to all counts at a previous hearing on February 22 but today admitted making indecent photographs of a child, and two charges of causing/inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

Stanton was sentenced on Monday (3) to 11 years and four months.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed on Stanton for 10 years.

He will also be required to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

DS Steve Chadwick, from Staffordshire Police, said: "I hope the conviction of Stanton will offer some comfort to the victims who were manipulated.

“The victims have shown great courage throughout the investigation.

“I hope this conviction will provide reassurance to other victims of sexual offences, giving them the confidence to report, and the confidence that they will be believed and that police will do everything to bring offenders to justice.”

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