Runaway paedophile sent back to prison

Andrew Jeremy Eden

A sex offender who absconded to Mexico after breaching the terms of his licence was jailed yesterday for 16 months.

Andrew Eden (51) was recalled to prison when he admitted having unsupervised contact with children following a conviction for molesting a young girl. But Eden, formerly, of Littleborough, evaded the authorities and left the country.

He was arrested more than three years later when a member of the public in Mexico noticed his photograph on the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre’s Most Wanted website.

Eden rebuilt his life with an English teaching job at Guadalajara University, where he met his new wife, Manchester Crown Court heard. He did not initially tell her about his paedophile conviction but said she and her family in Mexico were later fully supportive of him.

Eden was sentenced to three years in jail in June, 2001, for indecent assault and an additional 12 months for perverting the course of justice.

He was released on licence in August, 2003, for a period of three years but in January, 2005, he admitted to a probation officer he had stayed overnight at an address where children lived.

Eden was recalled to prison to serve the remaining two years of his four–year sentence but had already left for Mexico.

Rebecca Macauley, prosecuting, said the defendant was detained in Mexico in September last year and then contested extradition proceedings before he was finally returned to the UK in July.

Richard Hartley, defending, said Eden’s relationship with another woman had ended in a bad way at around the time he left Britain.

“Mr Eden tells me that she intimated that she would tell people where he lived about his conviction,” he said. This put him in fear of his safety. He felt the only place he could go was as far away as he possibly could.”

The defendant gained a teaching post in Guadalajara in which he lectured adults to speak English as a second language.

Mr Hartley said: “He tells me again he consciously sought to teach only people above the age of 18.”

Eden lived with his 30–year–old wife and her family but said he did not have any unsupervised contact with children in the house. He remains in contact with his wife and they are still close, he added.

Mr Hartley said: “He is trying to put his life on track.”

Eden pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to failing to notify police of his intention to travel abroad.

Sentencing Eden, Judge David Hernandez said: “The purpose of reporting notification regulations is to ensure you can be adequately monitored that you are no risk to yourself and nor to the public.”

The 16–month sentence will run concurrent to the two–year term imposed for breaching his licence. Eden is due to be released from prison in May, 2011.