November 2000

Father jailed for child sex 20 years ago

A PAEDOPHILE father and son were sentenced yesterday for child sex offences.

William Rawlings, 55, of Egmont Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for four years after a Teesside Crown Court jury convicted him of attempted rape, three offences of indecent assault, and three of indecency with a child.

The offences were committed 20 years ago on a girl aged ten to 12. He was put on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

His son Darren Rawlings, 28, of Bow Street, Middlesbrough, who admitted separate sex offences on two girls, when he was 14, was put on probation for three years, and on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

He admitted three indecent assaults and three indecencies with children. Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said the son told both girls: “It’s our secret.”

David Lamb, defending William Rawlings, said that his wife was standing by him. They hoped to be reunited when he ended his sentence