Former sports coach jailed for sex offences

Friday, 2 March 2018 07:00

A former sports coach has been jailed for a string of sexual offences against young boys.

Michael Hunter, 32, of Westborne Avenue in Leigh, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and voyeurism. He was also given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The court heard how Hunter, a former football and rugby coach, used his position to prey on young boys, his youngest victim being 10-years-old.

Hunter pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a teenage boy that he met as a football coach in 2009. At the time Hunter was given an FA banning order from coaching for inappropriate behaviour as neither police, the FA nor those around him, knew the full extent of his actions until it was fully reported to police some years later.

Although banned from coaching, Hunter tried several times to work with sports clubs again, he made excuses when asked to provide the appropriate information for background checks. When he ran out of excuses he would move on to another club.

Hunter also used social media and sent messages and naked photos of himself to a 13-year-old boy, the boy’s father monitored his young son’s social media accounts and quickly saw the picture and reported it to police.

This investigation led police to Hunter and when searching his phone and computers a video was found of a 10-year-old boy showering at his house. Though Hunter initially denied that he had anything to do with the video, he had started filming as he set the device up, so the video clearly showed his face and his actions as he hid it in a towel so not to be noticed.

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