A MAN found guilty of sexually abusing a child for two years more than 30 years ago has been spared jail.

Alan Pollard, who was living in Mendip Close, Peterlee, at the time, visited the boy regularly at his family home in another area of County Durham.

Pollard denied all charges against him, but was found guilty by a jury at Durham Crown Court.

Graeme Gaston, prosecuting, said Pollard took advantage of the sleeping arrangements in the boy's house.

Mr Gaston said: "The boy was probably too frightened to resist and Pollard persuaded him to carry out a number of sex acts."

The jury was told the precise dates of the offending were not known, but it was the Crown's case that Pollard abused the boy every few weeks for about two years.

"This course of conduct carried on until the boy decided he wanted it to stop," said Mr Gaston.

"He did this by refusing to get into bed with Pollard any more.

"Matters came to a head on Christmas Day, last year, when the victim saw Pollard in a workingmen's club. This brought it all back to him."

Pollard was interviewd by detectives and said he never slept in the same room as the boy.

Under cross-examination from Mr Gaston, he conceded he may have slept in the same bed "three times at most", but he insisted nothing improper had taken place.

Pollard, 57, of Bevan Crescent, Wheatley Hill, County Durham, denied four charges of indecency with a child and four charges of indecent assault of a child inder 14 years between September 1975 and September 1977.

The jury found him guilty of all charges.

Pollard appeared at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday to learn his fate.

Judge Guy Whitburn sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay £1,000 costs and sign the sex offenders' register for ten years.

The court heard that Pollard still denies the charges, despite the jury's verdict.

The judge told him: "This definitely had an effect on his emotional development for the past 30 years, as anyone who witnessed your trial and his evidence can speak of."

Penny Moreland, mitigating, said Pollard has no contact with any children and does not pose a danger to the public.