STRANGEWAYS PRISON OFFICER WHO GROOMED TEENAGE GIRL AND ENCOURAGED SELF-HARM JAILED FOR 7.5 YEARS
Ashley Houghton, 36, groomed a vulnerable girl and pestered her to send sexual videos, encouraging her to self-harm by carving his initials onto her body.
He only became aware that she was 14 towards the end of their five-week online chat and when he learned she had attempted suicide, he did not stop.
Instead, he blackmailed and threatened her to obtain sexual content, describing her scars as ‘cute’.
Houghton was traced via his IP address after the girl reported him to Discord and the US’s National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
When arrested, police seized his phone, but any images or videos he received had been deleted.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, one count of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.
He was sentenced to an extended prison term of seven-and-a-half years, with a two-thirds serve before Parole Board consideration and a six-year extended license period post-release.
Court Outcome
Conviction and Sentencing Details
Sentenced
Detected legal outcome
e count of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced to an extended prison term of seven-and-a-half years, with a two-thirds serve before Parole Board consi...
Prison sentence
seven-and-a-half years
He was sentenced to an extended prison term of seven-and-a-half years, with a two-thirds serve before Parole Board consideration and a six-year extended license period post-release
Extended sentence
seven-and-a-half years
He was sentenced to an extended prison term of seven-and-a-half years, with a two-thirds serve before Parole Board consideration and a six-year extended license period post-release
