Babysitter Deleah Poulton (pictured outside court) had 'extremely regular' sex with the 13-year-old boy and bought him alcohol when she was supposed to be looking after him

A babysitter who had sex more than 70 times with a 13-year-old schoolboy while she was supposed to be looking after him has been jailed.

Deleah Poulton, now 19, of Rhyl, North Wales, had 'extremely regular' sex with the teenager and bought him alcohol when his parents were out.

Mold Crown Court heard they had sex – without using contraception - at his house, at her house and outside, and text messages of a 'sexual nature' were found on her phone.

She told police she thought she was 'in love' with him and had thought the feelings were mutual despite the 'significant' age gap.

But prosecutors said she had been in a 'position of trust' and she has now been sentenced to 16 months in a youth offender's institute.

She was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years after admitting five charges of sexual activity when she was aged 17 and 18 and the boy was 13 or 14.

Judge Niclas Parry said there may be an assumption held by parts of society that the offences were not so serious when the defendant was female and the victim was male.

'In fact, the law quite properly draws no such distinction,' he said.

Judge Parry said that over a period of some 15 months while acting as a babysitter she had full penetrative sex and oral sex with the child. At that age, the age difference was significant, he said.

Sexual activity was 'extremely regular' and the complainant's best estimate was that it happened 70 times.

Sometimes sex would occur after alcohol was purchased by her and consumed by the two of them, but the judge said that it was not used as an inducement.

He ruled that Poulton had abused the trust placed in her to care for the boy and his siblings but found there was no element of grooming.

Mold Crown Court heard Poulton had sex – without using contraception - with the boy at his house, at her house and outside, and text messages of a 'sexual nature' were found on her phone. She is pictured outside Mold Crown Court, North Wales, ahead of the case yesterday

He added that there was no violence, no threats, and no suggestion that the victim was anything but compliant and willing throughout.

'The law is there to protect young children from themselves as much as anything else,' Judge Parry explained.

'Her personal gratification came above any thought for the welfare of the young boy involved.'

Judge Parry said that Poulton was a young woman of no previous convictions, was naive, lacking in social skills, and a 'sad' individual.

He also questioned the wisdom of allowing the defendant to babysit the children in the first place.

Prosecuting barrister Michael Whitty said that the boy was now 15 and 'getting on with his life'.

He disclosed to his mother last year that he had been in a sexual relationship with the babysitter and said in a victim impact statement that he had experienced a range of emotions as a result of what happened.

Poulton was sentenced to 16 months in a youth offender's institute at Mold Crown Court (pictured). She was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register and handed a sexual harm prevention order which states that she is not to have any unsupervised contact with boys

Defending, Mr Matthew Dunford told the court that Poulton was only 17 when it the offences began and it was clear that she had 'low self-esteem'.

He said she had 'felt sad for as long as she could remember' and the decision to invest a high level of trust in his client as a vulnerable young woman herself was 'open to doubt.'

She wept in the dock as the judge said that the 16-month sentence would have to be served immediately rather than being suspended.