Teaching assistant jailed for sexual abuse of boy, 10

Denise Povall has been jailed for eight years after being found guilty at York Crown Court

A former primary school teaching assistant has been jailed for eight years for sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy.

Denise Povall, 61, from Ripon, was charged with grooming, inciting sex with a child, inciting sexual activity with a child, and sexual assault by touching.

She denied all the charges, but was found guilty and sentenced at York Crown Court on Friday.

Det Con Alison Morris described Povall's actions as the “sustained sexual abuse of a young child by a paedophile”.

After the hearing, Ms Morris, who led the investigation for North Yorkshire Police, said the victim had been “incredibly brave coming forward”.

“This has been a long and extensive investigation into some of the most serious types of offences we encounter as detectives," she said.

“What we uncovered can only be described as evil and sustained sexual abuse of a young child by a paedophile.

“Povall has taken absolutely no accountability for the damage she has done to her victim’s life, so I’m glad we’ve been able to help the victim secure some sort of closure.”

Povall was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register when she is released from prison.

The offences took place in the 2000s when she worked for a school in the Harrogate district.

The court heard how she groomed her victim, buying him gifts and sending him texts. She had sexual intercourse with the child and performed sex acts on him on a number of occasions.

Later, as an adult, he told North Yorkshire Police about the offences, which resulted in an investigation into the former teaching assistant.

Throughout police interviews and the trial, she continued to deny the offences had taken place, and refused to accept any responsibility for her actions and how they had impacted the victim.

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