Christopher Atherton jailed for child sex offences
Mr Atherton, 47-years-old (born 2nd July 1978), resided on Milnthorpe Way in Manchester.
Appearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court earlier this week (Monday 1st September), Christopher Atherton was jailed by the judge for 13 years, after being found guilty of five child sex offences.
They were found guilty of sexual assault of a child under 13 years old, and causing or inciting a child under 13 years old to engage in sexual activity. Both of these charges stem from an incident in 2019, and were contrary to the Sexual Offences Act (2003).
A guilty verdict was also found for a number of historic sex offences, including two of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. These dated back to between 2001 and 2004, and his female victim was under the age of 16 at the time. Some of these charges may have been dealt with under the historic Sexual Offences Act (1956) as they happened prior to 1st May 2004.
In addition to being jailed for 13 years, the judge found that Mr Atherton was "a significant risk of causing serious harm in the future and a danger to girls". It was ordered that Mr Atherton remain on the Sex Offenders Registry for the remainder of their life.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said that both sets of incidents, the one from 2019, and the one from 2001 to 2004, involved girls in the Trafford area. Detective Constable Steve Matthias from GMP's Trafford Child Protection Unit said "Atherton put his victims through two ordeals, firstly by carrying out this horrific abuse and then compounding that by denying his criminality and making them testify at his trial".
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