A SEX offender who fathered a child without alerting the authorities has appeared in court.

Andrew McGrath was caught living with his partner and five-year-old son when police eventually managed to track him down.

The 39-year-old admitted he has been living with the woman for around six years before it came to light.

Teesside Crown Court heard how his offender manager was looking at removing the conditions of sex offenders' notification requirement order when it was discovered he had failed to update his address.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said was sentenced to three years in prison in June 2007 for offence of sexual activity with a child under 16.

She added McGrath was found in his partner's home when police searched the address on an unrelated matter.

Miss Atkinson told the court that McGrath lived at the address during the week and admitted that the five-year-old was his son – which was never disclosed to police.

She added: "All the previous reviews that the officer had conducted with the defendant all took place at his home and it gave him every opportunity to disclose the relationship, the child and the addresses he was staying at, but he had failed to do so."

He told police that he had been living there since his son was born and was aware of the conditions of his notification order but told them he was scared he would lose access to his son.

McGrath, of Lealholm Crescent, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to comply with his notification order between 2016 and June this year.

John Nixon, in mitigation, said his client was currently back living with his mother after social services became involved and has not been able to see his son since his arrest in June.

He added: His probation report talks about him in glowing terms both in terms of his engagement with the probation service and the fact he is regarded as a very low risk of further offending.

"The police were on the verge of seeking a termination of the notification requirements but of course that is not going to happen in the immediate future."

The court heard how McGrath had been in a 'relationship' with a 15-year-old girl when he was 24 and they had a 'cpnsensual relationship' at the time.

Mr Nixon added: "The risk, if there is one, is that he would have another relationship with a girl of 15-years of age. Here he was in the company of two boys, one of which was his own son."

Recorder Benjamin Nolan QC said: "Ideally, he ought to be back with his partner and the boy, surely. That would now require social services to agree and also his offender manager."

Sentencing McGrath to a 12 month community order, the judge added: "Your motives seem to have been quite noble in that you wanted to look after her antenatally and postnatally and you wanted to look after your son."

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