JOSEPH SHADE, EX-EASTENDERS ACTOR, AVOIDS JAIL IN NORWICH FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES AGAINST TEENAGE GIRLS

In October 2017, former EastEnders actor Joseph Shade, aged 24, escaped jail after admitting to sexual offences involving three teenage girls while serving in a position of trust as a youth worker. Shade, who portrayed Peter Beale on the soap from 1998 to 2004, was found guilty during his trial of sending sexual text messages to the girls and touching one on the bottom. At Norwich Crown Court, he received a suspended sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment.

The court was previously informed in August that Shade’s offences involved three girls aged between 14 and 17, occurring between 2012 and 2015. On the trial's fourth day, Shade, residing in Sheringham, Norfolk, changed his plea, admitting five counts of causing or inciting a child under 18 to engage in sexual activity and one count of sexual activity with a child, all while in a position of trust. An additional five sexual offence charges will remain on file.

Judge Maureen Bacon QC sentenced Shade on Friday, stating, "You sought to engage vulnerable teenage girls in sexual activity when you were in a position of trust." Prosecutor David Wilson explained that Shade had previously received help from the youth project as a young person, and upon turning 18, he became a youth worker. During his employment, he engaged with many young individuals from similar backgrounds and vulnerabilities. Wilson added, "During the course of his employment he accepts by his pleas that his relationships became too close to a number of attendees and he would engage with them by texting them messages asking them to have sex or to send sexual pictures of breasts and the like. On one occasion and only one occasion, he touched one of them."

Shade, who lives with his girlfriend, was charged in October following an investigation by Norfolk Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit. His trial, projected to last five to six days, resulted in an 18-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months, a five-year sexual harm prevention order restricting him from working with children and vulnerable adults, and an order to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. He is also required to sign the Sex Offenders Register and undertake a 60-day offender rehabilitation program.