Sunday, March 30, 2008

Ransom Cubitt - Defiant Child Molester

"It is distressing to see that you committed that offence and it is even more distressing that the woman would be still willing to have you back with her children there. You are not going to have that opportunity."
Judge Michael Taylor

A SEX offender banned from having unsupervised access to under-18s has been jailed for secretly moving in with a woman and her three children.

Ransom Cubitt was locked up for a total of 21 months for breaching the terms of a prevention order and failing to notify a change of address.

Judge Michael Taylor told the 36-year-old Middlesbrough man that he will be jailed for longer if he again breaks the conditions of the ruling.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Cubitt was spared prison two years ago for an offence of inciting a child to engage in a sexual act.

Instead of a custodial sentence, he was given a three-year community rehabilitation order and sent on a sex offenders' programme.

The strict Sexual Offences Prevention Order meant Cubitt was banned from having unsupervised contact with children and had to notify police and probation officials about his living arrangements.

Police went to his last known address last November, but his father said the former bus driver had not been living there for the previous three months.

Cubitt was finally traced ten days later to a home in Middlesbrough where he had been staying with a woman and her three children.

In interview, he said he had simply forgot to notify officials about his change of address, but accepted that he had been left alone with the youngsters.

Defence barrister Brian Russell said that the woman felt let down but would allow Cubitt back into her home because he had got on well with her children.

Judge Taylor told Cubitt: "You find yourself in difficulty today because this court gave you an opportunity in January 2006 . . . to prove yourself in the community."

The judge said he took the SOPO breach seriously because it was made for a good reason - "because the court thought you posed a danger to children because of your offending".

He added: "It is distressing to see that you committed that offence and it is even more distressing that the woman would be still willing to have you back with her children there. You are not going to have that opportunity.

"If you breach that order again, I warn you five years is the maximum and the courts will be likely to impose it."

Cubitt, of Westbourne Road, admitted failing to comply with notification requirements and breaching the SOPO between June and November last year.

No comments: