Leeds youth worker had video sexting sessions with vulnerable teenager in his care

University student Olorunyemi Adeyele was an agency worker who had gained employment at the home in the western area of the city in 2021 when he began the relationship with the girl, who was 17 at the time.

Telling her wanted to marry her, he sent photos of his genitals and she later denied she sent photos of her exposing herself, but they were found on her phone.

Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Philip Standfast said the pair also had two video calls in which they performed sex acts on themselves, which were recorded and later found by police.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, confessed their secret relationship to another member of staff in May of 2021, saying Adeyele had been calling her private mobile number. She said he sent her a picture of his penis and he had asked her to show him her breasts, which she had.

Adeyele, 28, was arrested and gave no comments during his police interview. He later admitted a charge of inciting a girl into sexual activity from a position of trust. As part of his basis of plea, he said thought the girl was 18 but accepted he did not inquire about her age.

Mitigating, Anastasis Tasou said Adeyele, who has no previous convictions, was in the UK on a student visa and was in his final year of university. He is also married to a British citizen.

He said: “As far as he was concerned, the majority of his advances were reciprocated. He thought she was 18, but his guilt resides in his position of trust as a support worker. He got carried away in the circumstances.

"The court can be satisfied he will never work in this area again, and never be in this situation again, if he is allowed to stay in this country.”

Judge Ray Singh told Adeyele: “You should be thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed of your behaviour. You tried to minimise your involvement in this matter and had not really accepted you committed a very serious criminal offence.

“You were in a position of trust, you had been employed through an agency at accommodation for vulnerable individuals. You took advantage of the vulnerabilities of the complainant.

“You solicited pictures from her, and you masturbated for sexual gratification as a result of receiving those. You ought to have known the complainant was under the age of 18 while working in that environment. It would have been abundantly clear that she was not only underage, but vulnerable.”

He gave him 14 months’ jail, but opted to suspend it for two years, saying he believed there a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation”. In addition, he gave him 30 rehabilitation days and a four-month electronic-tag curfew.

Adeyele, of Larch Hill, Bradford, was also put on the sex offender register for 10 years.