A convicted sex offender has been incarcerated after initiating a connection with a lady in York without disclosing his prior offences.
Michael Harris remained unnoticed for over ten months following his encounter with the unsuspecting victim, as presented before Teesside Crown Court.
The 48-year-old, formerly identified as Michael Eddy, was discovered to have neglected to register two aliases, a bank account, and a credit card with the authorities.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, said the defendant used the online aliases Mikey J 1974 and Michael John between January 1 and November 2 this year to strike up his relationship before spending all of his time in York.
He said: “He didn’t reveal his conviction to her and she was shocked when the police contacted her. She had taken him to the homes of friends and family.”
Michael Harris, formerly known as Michael Eddy (Image: Cleveland Police)
Harris, of Fincham Close, Stockton, was a registered sex offender since his conviction for sexual activity with an underage girl in 2011.
He was jailed in 2013 and 2018 for previous breaches of his notification requirements.
The defendant pleaded guilty to all five breaches of his notification requirement order between January 1 and November 2 this year.
Andrew Turton, mitigating, said his client wanted to settle down with the woman and told the judge that no children were living at the house.
He added: “The meeting with other family happened on one occasion and he was never unsupervised. No issues were raised as a result of that happening.
“He did change his name by deed poll and that was registered with the police.”
Locking Harris up for 32 months, Judge Jonathan Carroll said: “The purpose of the notification requirements is to allow the appropriate authorities to manage the risk that you continue to pose and its quite clear, both by the original offence and continuing breaches and past convictions for breaches and this group of offences, that you are a continuing risk.
“You went under the radar again for a significant amount of time for these offences. The police attempted to visit you to try to carry out periodic checks, but there were 12 failed visits.”
Harris was also issued with an indefinite restraining order to protect the woman.
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