Coventry man jailed for grooming young girl
A court heard the 43-year-old's offending spanned a number of months in 2024
Last updated 29th Jun 2026
A sex offender who groomed a young girl in Coventry has been jailed for five years.
A court heard Leon Beckham's offending spanned several months in 2024 and involved him taking the girl out on day trips around the country, during which the abuse would occur.
West Midlands Police say when the girl reported what had happened, Beckham was arrested and interviewed before repeatedly moving around the country to avoid being caught.
Officers tracked him down to an address in Hastings, Sussex, where he was found hiding under a bed.
Beckham was charged and convicted of abusing a position of trust and sexual activity with a child.
Detectives say he denied the offence, accusing the girl of blackmailing him, but was unable to explain why she would have done this or why he had apparently deleted text messages which would have supported his defence.
Beckham, 43, of Sandilands Close, Coventry, was convicted of six counts of sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 17 as well as abusing a position of trust. Along with the jail term, he was also handed a lifetime ban from working with children and will be on the National Sex Offender Register for life.
DC Craig Hall from our Eastern PPU team said: "Leon Beckham knew his actions were illegal and wrong and went to extreme lengths to avoid being arrested including hiding under a bed and moving to a different part of the country.
"An extra thank you should go to DC Ruth Russell. Without her tireless work, we would not have been able to build the case against Beckham or secure a conviction.
"We would urge anyone who has been sexually assaulted or groomed to come forward and tell your story.
"However long ago it happened, we will work tirelessly to bring perpetrators of this kind of abuse to justice."