A SEXUAL predator who left five victims in his wake is today starting a lengthy prison sentence.

Grant Potter was told by a judge that he had “seriously and significantly” damaged the women and young girls he targeted.

The self-confessed sex addict preyed on visitors and guests at his various homes across County Durham – in Darlington, West Cornforth and Trimdon – over nine years.

On occasions, Potter put his iPhone in a bedroom to film women and teenage girls getting undressed.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the 41-year-old repeatedly sexually assaulted two people who made regular visits to his home to see his wife, Donna.

He won his victims’ silence by making them feel guilty, telling them nobody would believe them, and if they told anybody, it would ruin people’s lives.

In impact statements, his victims told how their ordeals at the hands of the former call centre worker have left them struggling to cope with daily life.

One woman, who later suffered a breakdown, described Potter’s split personality, and said he would often apologise after abusing her.

Prosecutor Christopher Baker said she told how he grinned while he groped and touched her intimately, saying: “It’s the right thing to do.”

While he was meant to be giving her a lift, Potter also took her to remote spots – including Faverdale industrial estate in Darlington – to carry out his attacks.

She said in her statement: “He is a dangerous and manipulative person who should not be allowed to interact with society.”

Judge Deborah Sherwin told Potter, of Newton Aycliffe, yesterday that he had left the woman “very traumatised”.

Mr Baker said he targeted vulnerable females and used blackmail to ensure his sordid double-life remained a secret.

Potter was a married father-of-three while he was carrying out his attacks, and was described by his barrister as “a flawed character with an almost Jekyll and Hyde personality”.

In a text message to a relative, he wrote: “Every single day, I battle with the sick bastard inside me.”

In another message, he said: “You don’t need a dirty little nonce in your life. I’m a dirty, horrible bastard. It will come out sooner or later.”

His secret did come out in January last year when the voyeurism came to light, and one of his earlier victims saw a post on Facebook about him being on remand in Durham Prison.

She contacted a friend and revealed she had been sexually assaulted by Potter, and the friend reported the matter to police.

Victoria Lamballe, mitigating, said: “At the time of these offences, the defendant was a hard-working, married father-of-three without any prior experience of the criminal justice system.

“As a result of his self-acknowledged appalling behaviour, he has lost his liberty, he has lost his employment and he has lost his relationship with his wife.”

Miss Lamballe added: “He says he has an extremely high sex drive, bordering on what he believes is a sex addiction. That is something he only began to address during his incarceration.”

Potter admitted 11 charges of sexual assault and three each of voyeurism and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. He was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, and put on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Judge Sherwin told him: “All of this offending is serious and the fact it involved five victims and went on for nine years makes it more so.

“You picked on vulnerable women who you realised would be unlikely to tell what was happening to them.

“An unpleasant feature of the case is the extent to which you made your victims feel responsible, and they felt guilty about what you had done to them.”