A SEX offender who handed himself into police after deliberately setting out to abuse a child, this week told the Standard he is not a danger to youngsters.
Michael Tingley, of Dovercourt, admitted to his probation officer at a routine meeting he had gone for a walk in a nearby park with the intention of hurting a child.
He told police the likelihood of him reoffending was 9/10.
The 54-year-old demanded magistrates slap a sexual offences prevention order on him this month, which limits his contact with children.
But despite his claims to police Tingley insists he is not a danger to the public and was asking for help.
“Sometimes the old me comes creeping back in,” he said.
“I just thought I didn’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t want to hurt the kids anymore.”
He continued: “I got fed up sitting here. Sometimes you just get bored playing on the PlayStation and watching films.
“And I found myself in the park and I just didn’t want to do it anymore.”
Tingley, who moved to Harwich from Dedham earlier this year, was put on the sex offenders register last November.
He is looking to move to Colchester so he can stick to the conditions of the sexual offences prevention order and stay away from children.
“I’m just not a danger,” he said. “There’s no reason for the locals to be wary at all.
“I would like to go somewhere else without being near schools, parks or beaches and there’s no work here.
“Ideally it will be Colchester because it’s away from the beach.”
But the former dustbin ban, who has been unemployed for a year, issued a warning to parents to watch over their children.
“Just keep an eye on your kids from anybody, it doesn’t matter who they are,” he said.
The sexual offences prevention order stops Tingley from talking to, writing to or sending a text message to any child under the age of 16.
Tingley is also not allowed to go within 30 metres of any park, playground, beach, school where children regularly congregate.
And he must be supervised at all times when in the company of a child by a parent or guardian who knows the full facts of the case.
Police officers will monitor his mobile phone and home residence in accordance with the order.
