A man in his 20s was told to expect a prison sentence for a series of sexual offences committed against an underage girl.

The warning was given to Joss Andrew Hellem after he admitted a total of 11 charges put to him at a plea hearing at Durham Crown Court.

Twenty-three-year-old Hellem, of Secker Place, Newton Aycliffe, admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child, two each of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and meeting a child following sexual grooming, plus one of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

All the offences were said to have been committed between December 2023 and April this year.

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The defendant denied a further charge, of causing a child to watch a sexual act, but prosecuting council Chris Baker said those pleas may be accepted by the Crown.

He said  he would seek confirmation from the reviewing Crown lawyer in the case in the next seven days.

Emma Wright, for the defendant, said the 11 counts admitted by the defendant were accepted by him on the full facts alleged by the Crown.

Judge Sarah Mallett said if the prosecution finds the pleas to be acceptable she would list the case for sentence in about four weeks.

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She asked the Probation Service to produce a background report on the defendant in time for the sentencing hearing.

Addressing Hellem, Judge Mallett told him: “You have pleaded guilty and will be given credit for those pleas when you come back to be sentenced, next month.

“In adjourning for a pre-sentence report and granting you bail in the meantime should not be seen as any indication as to what your sentence will be.

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“I’m sure you’ll be advised it will be a custodial sentence and the length of that will be up to the judge who sentences you on that date.”

She said, in the meantime, in light of the guilty pleas, the defendant would be subject to interim registration requirements as a sex offender.

He was bailed to return for sentence on Monday, September 16.