'Repulsive' sex predator hid girl from police
Northumbria PoliceA child abuser who "smuggled" a girl past police officers and gave her a sexual infection has been jailed for 13 and a half years.
Curtis Cruickshank, 21, breached a sexual risk order (SRO) by messaging the 15-year-old girl on WhatsApp before carrying out a number of sex acts with her, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Judge Stephen Earl said Cruickshank was a "dangerous" offender who posed a "very high risk of serious harm" to children and women.
Cruickshank admitted 19 offences including penetrative sexual activity with a child. He will have to serve a further six years on extended licence upon his release from prison.
'Hid from police'
Cruickshank, of no fixed address, was made subject of an SRO in 2021, part of which banned him from contacting children online after earlier sexual offending, the court heard.
He had already breached that order 11 times, including by deleting his internet search history and failing to hand his phone over to police for inspection, when he contacted the girl in November 2023, prosecutor David Povall said.
Despite being told she was 15, he quickly turned the chat sexual and made her watch sexual videos of him while encouraging her to film herself, the court heard.
Within days he had met her several times around Newcastle and performed multiple violating sex acts, which the girl described as rough and painful.
On one occasion he took her to his home, but the pair were spotted by a CCTV operative who, knowing of the SRO, alerted police, Mr Povall said.
Officers went to the house but Cruickshank hid both himself and the girl before "smuggling" her out later, the prosecutor said.
'Victim blaming'
The offences came to light when the girl feared she might be pregnant and told her father.
She was found not to be pregnant but a test revealed she had chlamydia, which Cruickshank had given her.
In a statement read to the court, the girl said she had not realised the "enormity" of what had happened and she was an "easy target" for Cruickshank, adding: "He preyed upon my vulnerability."
Judge Earl said when challenged about his offending, Cruickshank sought to "victim blame".
He said Cruickshank, who also admitted meeting the girl after sexually grooming her, had been assessed as posing a "very high risk of serious harm" to children and women.
Cruickshank was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and must sign the sex offender register for life.
Speaking after sentencing, Det Con Claire Ashurst of Northumbria Police said Cruickshank was a repeat offender who had shown a "constant and unwavering sexual interest in children".
She said he "continually and brazenly ignored" a court order and had been "repulsive".