Tracy Bancroft

Introduction

Tracy Bancroft is a 64-year-old woman from Filey, North Yorkshire, who groomed and repeatedly sexually abused a teenage boy when she was aged in her late 40s or early 50s, giving him alcohol and cigarettes . She admitted three counts of sexual activity with a child, and at York Crown Court on Tuesday 27 October 2026 she was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison and placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life . Sentencing her, Judge Simon Hickey told Bancroft: “Clearly, you now recognise that what you have done has caused immeasurable harm,” adding: “There’s certainly an element of grooming here” .

Background Information

The offences came to light when the boy approached police in 2023; Bancroft was arrested in March 2024 . In January 2025 she was charged with eight sexual offences against the boy, which she initially denied . In September 2026 she pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child, accepting that the offences had occurred on at least nine occasions. Two other counts will lie on file, and not guilty verdicts were recorded by the judge on the three remaining charges . The victim, who was a teenager at the time of the abuse, cannot be named for legal reasons .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted sexual activity with a child; jailed for nine years and four months.

Prosecutor Michael Morley told the court that on the first occasion Bancroft had given the victim “two drinks of strong rum” before kissing him. The child “froze” as Bancroft continued. “He was stunned. He said he had frozen and remained shocked for a few days,” Morley added . According to the victim, he was abused by Bancroft on “at least” 20 other occasions; in her pleas, Bancroft accepted the offending had taken place on at least nine occasions . Judge Simon Hickey told her: “There’s certainly an element of grooming here” . Defending, solicitor Derek Foley said there is “little that can be said and certainly nothing that can excuse or even explain” her actions. He said Bancroft was “alcohol dependent and drinking heavily, and it was in that context that she took advantage of a young child,” and that she felt a “deep shame” for what she had done. “She doesn’t leave the house,” he added. “She has become a recluse. She does recognise the enormity of her offending” .

Public Reaction and Consequences

In a statement read out by the victim’s mother in court, she called Bancroft a “predator” who had taken advantage of her son, and said the abuse had had a profound effect on him, leaving him “emotionally wrecked” . The court’s response was custodial: nine years and four months in prison, together with placement on the sex-offenders’ register for life, imposed at York Crown Court on Tuesday 27 October 2026 . The case was publicly documented by BBC News, which reported that a woman who “groomed” and repeatedly sexually abused a teenage boy had been jailed for more than nine years .

Current Status

Bancroft is serving a prison sentence of nine years and four months and is on the sex-offenders’ register for life . The charges against her are fully resolved: she was convicted on the three counts to which she pleaded guilty, with her admission covering at least nine occasions of sexual activity with the child; two counts will lie on file; and not guilty verdicts were recorded on the three remaining charges .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 64, Bancroft begins a custodial term of more than nine years, and the lifelong sex-offenders’ registration will outlast any release . Her own defence solicitor told the court that before sentencing she had already become a recluse who does not leave the house, feels “deep shame” and recognises “the enormity of her offending” . The case record will permanently attach to her name the admitted sexual abuse of a child, the grooming the trial judge identified, and a victim whom the court heard is now “emotionally wrecked” .

Sources

• “Filey woman who ‘groomed’ and sexually abused boy jailed” — BBC News, 28 October 2026: source