A 62-year-old grandmother has been jailed for two years after admitting to sexually abusing a vulnerable teenage boy in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Deborah Taylor, mum-of-five, was 33 years old when she began using her home as a “doss house” to lure impressionable young people.
Her victim, a 14-year-old boy, used to be one those regularly visiting her home at the time.
The court heard how Taylor eventually asked the teenager to stay the night and sleep in her bed.
This led to the couple becoming involved in a sexual relationship for eight years in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The victim, now in his 40s, hid his relationship from everyone, before eventually going to police in January 2020 to report the abuse.
In a statement he issued later, the victim said: “Now I can’t understand why she would be interested in a relationship with an under 18-year-old.
“I have spent the last few years regretting everything that happened to me.
“I was robbed of a childhood. I feel depressed and question myself all the time now.
“I was just a boy, and she knew it was wrong. I was vulnerable and she took full advantage of this.”
One of Taylor’s son’s was the same age as the victim at the time, Manchester Evening News reports.
Taylor, of Thomasson Close, Bolton, was sent down for two years after admitting indecent assault and was also issued with an indefinite restraining order banning her from contacting the victim.
She was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for ten years.
Taylor changed her plea to guilty in June of this year. She had previous convictions for assault, shoplifting and supplying cannabis.
In sentencing, Judge Martin Walsh told Taylor: “You effectively groomed the complainant into a sexual relationship. He was extremely vulnerable by virtue of the neglect he endured as a child.
“Unquestionably, you took advantage of him at that time.
“Although I do not deem you to be a risk to the public I cannot ignore the harm that was done by the offending.
“It was not isolated but rather occurred across a long period of time.”
