A CONVICTED sex offender narrowly avoided being sent to prison yesterday after he admitted stroking ponies – despite a court ban.

Retired farmworker David Chamberlin was barred from approaching tethered animals as part of an order after he admitted outraging public decency by committing a lewd act with a horse in 2009.

The 72-year-old, of Hartington Road, Stockton, appeared before Teesside magistrates for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to six breaches of a sexual offences prevention order on various days in May last year.

The court heard that he was also involved in a further breach after telling his case worker that a prostitute he was using brought a child in a pushchair to his home in October last year. He was found guilty of associating with someone under 18, despite not inviting the child into his home.

Chamberlin’s sentencing had been delayed for psychiatric reports.

District Judge Kristina Harrison said: “He doesn’t suffer from any psychological illness but I have to say I find it extraordinarily strange behaviour.

“The strange and disturbing factor is that he has a history of sexual offences across his record, there are gaps between them but none of them have resulted in custody.

“I find it very strange behaviour that any man would want to stick his penis in a horse’s mouth, quite frankly.”

In 2009, he was caught when the owner of the horse spotted Chamberlin acting suspiciously in a field in Billingham, near Stockton.

The farmer saw the animal’s head being pulled down towards Chamberlin’s groin.

Shocked and disgusted, he hit Chamberlin with a stick, which caused the horse to run off, dragging Chamberlin across the field.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and given a twoyear supervision order with one-to-one sessions on a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

The district judge added: “By being on bail for a long time, he seems to have moved on from horses to prostitutes which is not a particularly good development.

“He has got to refrain from behaving in the manner that he does. I would like to stop him behaving in a bizarre sexual fashion.”