‘Looking back I realise I meant nothing to him... he did what he wanted and left’
A PERVERT has been branded a “sexual predator” by a girl he targeted for underage sex.
Brandon Swinney was 17 when he took advantage of a vulnerable girl who had already suffered sexual abuse.
He lifted the lid on his own crime years later, when he got back in touch with her asking to meet again, and mentioned the sexual liaison.
By that time, he had already served a 30-month custodial sentence for sexual offences against another young girl when he was a youth.
He was offending again just two days after his release from that sentence, aged 19, in September 2016.
He ended up living in hostels in Middlesbrough, South Bank and Newcastle. He used another sex offender’s phone to contact the underage girl he knew via social media – forbidden by a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
“Over time he sought to persuade her to send him photos of herself,” said prosecutor Richard Bennett.
“He told her they were in a relationship, that he loved her and he wanted to meet up with her.”
In his messages, Swinney referred to having sex with her years earlier, Teesside Crown Court heard. Detectives contacted her and she told how he had turned up to a park smelling of alcohol and they had sex there.
“There was no doubt at all he knew her age,” added Mr Bennett.
“She was a particularly vulnerable child. She had been the victim of a serious sexual crime .”
Now 21, Swinney admitted sexual activity with a child – carrying a maximum five-year sentence as he was 17 at the time – and breaching the SHPO.
He had numerous convictions since his 2016 release for failing to comply with notification requirements as a sex offender, and was cautioned for using unregistered Facebook accounts.
Stephen Constantine, defending, described Swinney as a vulnerable, quiet and introverted young man who had a troubled childhood.
He said Swinney was isolated without support from family and friends on his release from custody, and “immaturity, naivety and frustration got the better of him”.
He added Swinney had not sexually offended against a child since 2015 and had recently become a father.
“You’re not dealing with the most sophisticated of individuals,” said Mr Constantine.
“He’s starting to learn that he has to comply. He wants to put things right. He doesn’t want to continue like this and assures the court through me that he will take whatever steps are necessary.”
Judge Peter Armstrong told Swinney, appearing in court via video link to Durham Prison: “She had suffered serious sexual abuse.
“She was therefore vulnerable. In that knowledge you made contact with her and effectively persuaded her to meet you and you had sex with her.
“That came to light when you started making contact with her again.
“Fortunately, nothing came of that but the potential was for serious harm.
“The worrying aspect is it was only within days of your release that you were reoffending.”
Swinney, originally from Peterlee, latterly of Westmorland Road, Newcastle, was jailed for three years.
He was given a new indefinite SHPO banning unsupervised contact or work with girls under 16.