Karl Everiss

A convicted child sex offender from Ashington deceived a mother into believing he was of good character, leading to him having contact with her children in breach of his court order. Karl Everiss, 53, of Juliet Street, Ashington, Northumberland, was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court for failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and his sexual harm prevention order.

Everiss had previously been jailed for four years in July 2017 after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child. As part of his sentence, he received an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and was required to sign the sex offenders register for life. Despite these restrictions, in September 2024, Northumbria Police conducted a home visit and discovered he was using an unregistered alias, 'silver fox', on Facebook. Further inquiries revealed he had been in a relationship with a woman in Ashington for approximately 12 months, staying at her home two or three times a week, with her children present on several occasions.

The woman, a mother from Ashington, told police she had asked Everiss about any previous convictions after three months of dating, to which he assured her he was of good character and had never been arrested. She allowed him to meet her children under this pretence, though they were never left alone with him. Prosecuting, Albany Kidd stated: 'She said after three months she let him meet the children after asking him if he had any previous convictions. He told her he was of good character and had never been arrested and was not that kind of person.' Police informed the woman of Everiss's true history during their visit, leaving her shocked.

Upon police arrival at the woman's home, Everiss was found lying on the floor upstairs, appearing to hide. He has 28 previous convictions, including two prior failures to comply with sex offender notification requirements. Everiss pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with the sex offender notification requirements and one count of failing to comply with the sexual harm prevention order.

Jailing him for two years, Judge Tim Gittins remarked: 'It's clear from what she had to say that she had started that relationship with you and allowed you to meet her children only on the understanding you were of good character. So there was a degree of deceit and manipulation by you.' The judge noted there was no evidence of harm to the children beyond the distress caused to the woman and her family upon learning the truth. Defending, Helen Towers highlighted Everiss's early guilty plea as his main mitigation, adding: 'He didn't have a huge amount of contact with the children and there's no allegation of any untoward behaviour.'

This case was reported by Chronicle Live on 15 October 2024, based on proceedings at Newcastle Crown Court. Northumbria Police led the investigation following the routine compliance check.