A MAN convicted of sexually abusing a teenage woman, both when she was under and above the age of 16, has finally admitted behaving, “inappropriately, at times”.

David Philip Bell denied the allegations when first questioned after the victim, now in her 20s, came forward and reported his actions to police in October, 2019.

Durham Crown Court heard that he went on to indicate a not guilty plea to six counts of sexual assault and four of sexual activity with a child when he first appeared before magistrates.

The defendant, of Oaklea, Shildon, duly pleaded not guilty to all those charges at the crown court.

After the case was twice delayed he maintained his denials when the trial finally began at the court, last week, effectively implying his accuser was lying.

The jury, however, returned unanimous guilty verdicts to all six sexual assault charges and on two of the four counts of sexual activity with a child, after a four-day hearing, on Monday.

Bell was cleared on the other two counts and was remanded in custody to be sentenced yesterday, following preparation of a report by the Probation Service.

That report, read to the sentencing hearing, said the defendant, “has now accepted responsibility to behaving inappropriately, at times”, but still claimed some of the alleged incidents were, “taken out of context”, or, “embellished.”

Despite that, the report added: “He fully regrets and expresses remorse about it.”

Helen Chapman, mitigating, said her 62-year-old client, has nothing similar on his record, and his only two past convictions, both date back more than 30 years.

But she added he does not “enjoy good health” and the conviction would prove, “a stigma and weigh heavily on him, for the rest of his life.”

Jonathan Walker, prosecuting, said the victim felt with the delays in the case that her life has been, “put on hold” for the past two years.

Imposing a 54-month prison sentence, Judge Singh told Bell: “The jury were clearly not hoodwinked by you, but it’s of little comfort to the victim that you now accept you committed these offences.

“Ultimately, it means she has been totally vindicated in making those allegations.”

A lifetime restraining order prohibits Bell from contacting or approaching the victim, while he must also register as a sex offender, “indefinitely”.

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