A mother was left horrified after discovering that the man dating her 17-year-old daughter and staying in her home with her baby was a registered sex offender, a court heard.
Blake Moorhouse, 21, had been handed a three-year community order for sexual activity with a 14-year-old in March 2026. However, Preston Crown Court was told that at the time of sentencing he was already deceiving people about his new relationship with a 17-year-old. Moorhouse claimed to be remorseful but was flouting interim notification restrictions on contact with under-18s.
The defendant, from Blackpool, formed an online relationship with the teenager and visited her and her young child, staying in her bedroom where her baby also slept on several occasions, although the girl maintained the relationship was not sexual. On March 6, he was issued a sexual harm prevention order. He told his new girlfriend and her mother that his court appearance related to an assault, failing to disclose he was on the sex offenders register.
Shortly after, he received a call from MOSOVO, the police unit managing sexual and violent offenders. The girl grew suspicious, searched online, and discovered who had been contacting him. Moorhouse was asked to leave and surrendered himself when he learned police were searching for him.
Judge Robert Altham said: 'I was very careful to remind myself at the point of sentence that the court must take great care when dealing with young defendants... and you committed [the earlier offence] not long after you were a child yourself. After reading reports and you professing you were sorry and would comply it did not seem necessary to send you to custody and I didn't. Frankly I was completely wrong about that.'
He resentenced Moorhouse to two years and four months for the original offences against the 14-year-old, plus six months for breaching the sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements.
