A NEWPORT teaching assistant who befriended a schoolboy before sexually touching him and showing him pornography was jailed for three years yesterday.

Daniel Beatty, 23, of Ariel Close, initially volunteered at a Newport primary school and was given a permanent position there later.

But he cultivated a relationship with the 11-year-old, who he had met working there, and sexually touched him twice some time between January 1, 2014 and June 3, 2014. He also showed the boy adult pornography.

Beatty contacted the boy on Facebook, took him to his home and bought him presents including an Xbox controller and a football.

He said he had developed a relationship with boy because he felt sorry for him – even though he knew the victim was vulnerable.

At one point, he told the schoolboy that he was in love with him but later dismissed this as a joke.

On another occasion he allowed the child to sit on his lap and control his car's steering wheel as Beatty used its pedals to drive.

Yet during a trial, he denied committing any of the crimes and was eventually found guilty by a jury last month.

A report prepared for the sentencing found Beatty poses a 'high risk' to children.

Relatives sobbed in the public gallery as Judge William Gaskell told Beatty at Newport Crown Court that he had 'destroyed any prospect of a career in the teaching profession'.

He will be placed on the sex offenders register on his release from prison and will remain on that indefinitely.

The judge told Beatty: “You were obviously highly regarded [at the school] and the time came when you were able to obtain employment there. You were instructed on how you should behave to the young people in your care…and how to avoid inappropriate contact with them.”

Judge Gaskell added later, of Beatty’s attitude to the victim: “You said you felt sorry for him. You said he was bullied by his brother. You felt his mother showed no interest in him. Given that on your own account he was a vulnerable boy, your behaviour was all the worse.”

Beatty has also been banned from meeting children under 16 unless their parents have allowed the contact or it has been granted by social services.

He was given three years in custody for the sexual touching and a further two years, to be served concurrently, for allowing the boy to view pornography.

A spokesman from Newport City Council said: "All child protection procedures were followed by the school concerned and the local authority. As soon as we were made aware of the allegations, the teaching assistant was suspended. We recognise that such situations can cause distress and concern and support has been offered to parents, pupils and staff."