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JAILED: Ivan King gave a girl presents before later having sex

A BUS driver who befriended a passenger on a school bus and then repeatedly had sex with her has been jailed for four years.

Ivan King, 54, of Padiham Road, Burnley, gave the girl presents after meeting her when she started using his bus when she was 12.

King began having sex with her on his day off when she was 14, with the girl telling her parents that she was going to the library.

He went on to infect the girl with a sexually transmitted disease after sleeping with prostitutes in Thailand, prompting her to end the relationship when she was 16.

King admitted four counts of sexual activity with a child and appeared before Burnley Crown Court for sentence.

He was also placed on the sex offenders' register and was given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning him from having contact with youngsters under 16.

Police welcomed the sentence saying that King had 'abused his position of trust'.

And Lancashire Country Council revealed that from April all drivers on school bus runs would be have their criminal records checked Sara Dodd, prosecuting, told the court the victim, who lived in Burnley with her family, started chatting with the defendant after getting on his bus.

He started to ask her to meet him out of work, it became too much for her and she stopped getting on his bus.

She then started using the bus again and after a while she agreed to meet him in Burnley Asda car park on a Sunday morning.

Miss Dodd said the victim was in King's car for about an hour, she chatted about problems she might have at home and he gave her chocolate. The girl was 12 at the time.

The pair continued to meet for six months, the defendant told the victim he was 40 and he tried to kiss her.

The girl had grown to like King by this time, trusted him and agreed to go to his home where they had sex.

Miss Dodd said from then on, King and the teenager began to have sexual intercourse every week on his day off.

He would then drop the girl off and told her to tell her mother she had been at the library.

Miss Dodd said King and the victim did not use contraception, she thought she was pregnant and King told her if she was he would pay for an abortion.

The defendant was said to spend Christmas in Thailand and the girl was told by others the only reason he was going there was for sex.

He denied that to the victim.

Miss Dodd said last April, the teenager again feared she might be pregnant.

A test proved she had chlamydia and after she confronted the defendant, he admitted sleeping with prostitutes in Thailand.

The relationship between the pair ended, the victim took an overdose and feared she was pregnant again.

After the girl went missing from home and tried to slit her arms with glass, King turned up at her home, adamant the police should not be contacted.

Miss Dodd said officers were called in last May and King was arrested.

Welcoming the sentence, Det Con Darren Sharp, of Burnley CID, said: "Ivan King befriended this girl when she was 12 and groomed her.

"When she was 14 he started to have sexual intercourse with her until she was 16.

"She was a very vulnerable young child and he was only concerned with using her for his own sexual purposes."

He said that King was known to the girl's family but he kept their relationship secret from her parents.

"He was in a position of trust as a bus driver and the courts have clearly taken that into consideration when passing sentence," he added.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "It has been our policy that school bus drivers should have enhanced criminal records clearance if they are on journeys where they could be left in a one-on-one situation with a student at the beginning or end of a route.

"Our child protection policies are always under review and we had already decided that all school bus drivers should have a CRB check.

"A rolling programme of checks is being introduced next month to cover all the drivers who work on school bus routes in Lancashire.

"Taxi drivers who take children to school are already checked."

King's employer said that he had been suspended as soon as the company learned he had been arrested.

He added that full checks, including criminal records bureau verifications, were routinely carried out on all drivers.

11:57pm Wednesday 19th March 2008

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