Kyril McClean - who has convictions for flashing in Scarborough - guilty of sex with under-age girl

Kyril McClean, from Malton, had sex with the girl in an alleyway next to a cinema, in a car parked in a garage and in a tent, York Crown Court heard.

McClean - who already had a string of convictions for flashing in Scarborough - ignored a police warning before the sex offences not to have any contact with the girl, said prosecutor PhilipStandfast.

The 27-year-old, who moved to Malton after leaving Scarborough, was arrested in March 2017 and charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child between February and July 2016.

In October 2018, he faced two more allegations concerning a different under-age girl, namely rape and sexual activity with a child under 16. Neither of the girls can be named for legal reasons.

McClean, of Yorkersgate, denied all the charges and appeared for a week-long trial at the Crown Court.

He was found guilty on Friday of two counts of sexual activity with the first girl, but not guilty of rape and sexual activity with the second teenager.

Mr Standfast said the first girl described McClean as “controlling”. There was a about a nine-year age gap between them and she had told him her true age.

“She told police (they) had sexual intercourse on a number of occasions when she was under 16,” added the barrister.

“The first time was in a car parked in (a) garage in Cayton. She said on that occasion she had been smoking legal highs (that McClean) had given her and (which) made her feel sleepy.”

On another occasion, they had sex down the side of a cinema when the girl was “reluctant because of its location”.

“She said the intercourse was rough or violent,” added Mr Standfast.

Before the incidents in 2016, McClean had been told by police that he could be made subject to a child-abduction warning because of his contact with the girl. He was arrested in March 2017, hauled in for questioning but made no reply.

In October 2018, he was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences against a second girl. Police found her in a distressed state at McClean’s flat in Malton in the early hours of October 15, said Mr Standfast.

He said McClean and the girl had swapped messages on Facebook, during which he allegedly told her he was 17 and she told him her true age.

McClean allegedly persuaded the girl to visit him at his flat one evening, when she thought she was just going there for a chat.

“When she got there, he told her to hide because he wasn’t supposed to have contact with girls under 18,” alleged Mr Standfast.

They smoked cannabis together and then, according to the girl, McClean stroked her leg and she pushed him off. It’s then alleged that McClean tied some rope around the door handle “which would stop anybody coming into the flat and make it more difficult for (the girl) to get out if she wanted”, added Mr Standfast.

It was alleged that McClean pushed the girl onto a sofa before having sex with her. She put up a struggle and tried to get out, but he pushed her back down and put his hand over her mouth, claimed the prosecution.

“After about 10 minutes he heard the police trying to get into the flat,” said Mr Standfast.

It was alleged that, on hearing police, McClean grabbed the girl by the hair and tried to push her into a kitchen cupboard.

Mr Standfast said the girl couldn’t get into the cupboard whereupon McClean allegedly started hitting her and then brought out a knife to try to force her in. McClean denied using any violence or trying to force her into a cupboard, and claimed he never brandished a knife.

McClean eventually undid the rope on the door handle after police threatened to force entry. They found the girl in the living room, “looking very dishevelled and scared.”

Police had been alerted by the girl’s mother who reported her missing, said Mr Standfast.

McClean didn’t dispute having sex with the girl but said she had told him she was 18. He claimed that during sex the girl had told him her true age and he had tried to “push her off me”.

Neighbours in a flat above said they heard a woman screaming in McClean’s one-bedroom flat.

McClean insisted there was no such screaming or “muffled shouts”.

McClean - formerly of North Lane, Cayton - was not supposed to have any contact with girls under 18 because of his previous convictions for flashing or exposure.

He claimed he had tied the rope around the door when police came and because they had been banging at the door “really hard”, but not before and he insisted it was not to prevent the girl from leaving.

McClean had three previous convictions for flashing in the Brunswick shopping centre, on a public-transport bus and on a train.

He has a long and varied criminal history which includes convictions for burglary, drug offences, arson, battery, theft, making explosives, criminal damage and serious driving offences

McClean said he had mental-health problems and had been diagnosed with an unstable or borderline personality disorder.

He was acquitted of the alleged rape and sexual-activity against the second girl but found guilty of the first two charges against the other teen.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC adjourned sentence to April 12 and remanded McClean in custody until then.