Last updated at 09:44, Friday, 23 March 2012

A former Border TV cameraman has been jailed for nearly three years for sexually abusing two teenage boys he met through his church.

Gordon Ellis

Gordon Ellis, 53, of Head Street, Caldewgate, Carlisle, pleaded guilty at the city’s crown court to three charges of indecent assault involving two boys.

The three charges were said to be specimen offences, reflecting his behaviour over many months. The offences were committed in the 1990s when the boys were in their mid-teens.

Prosecuting counsel Katie Jones told the court the offences came to light only when the first victim, after keeping the abuse secret for more than 10 years, heard a church sermon that inspired him at last to tell someone about it.

Ellis was then charged with sexual assault.

His second victim came forward when his mother read of the charges faced by Ellis in the News & Star and asked him if he had been abused in the same way.

Ms Jones said that, after meeting the boys through his church, Ellis showered one boy with “gifts and favours” but for well over two years regularly abused him and performed sex acts upon him.

His assaults of the second boy were less serious, but still involved Ellis touching him inappropriately.

In his defence, barrister Cecilia Pritchard said now “accepts his behaviour was appalling.”

She said he had admitted what he had done, to spare the men the trauma of giving evidence against him.

Ellis – who, while working as a television cameraman also ran his own audio and video equipment business – was jailed for two years and nine months.

He was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and banned from having unsupervised contact with children.

First published at 15:33, Thursday, 22 March 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk