Description
A dad-of-two sexually assaulted a girl after sending her a vile threat.
"Depraved" Anthony Cubitt bombarded the 15-year-old victim with sexually explicit texts and molested her.
The 36-year-old kissed the child and put his hand down her pants - and a court was told she later attempted suicide.
While on bail, he then tried to groom a 12-year-old girl online, only to realise he had been stung by paedophile hunters.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Cubitt, of Grange Road West, Birkenhead, first sent the 15-year-old sick messages.
Frances Willmott, prosecuting, said one night Cubitt told her he wanted to perform a sex act on her, called her beautiful and sexy ,and said if he was her age "he would be f***ing her tonight".
He told the child to keep their conversation secret, before he asked if she was 16 and called her his girlfriend, when she replied she was 15.
Ms Willmott said: "Anthony Cubitt's response was he couldn't believe that she was that sexy at 15."
He asked questions trying to find out what the girl thought of him, but when she didn't reply, warned: "Answer me sexy before I f*** ya brain out."
Ms Willmott added: "He then sent a message telling her to leave her window open because he was going to climb up to see her and when she got back he would be waiting naked in her bed."
The victim confided in an adult, who advised her to block Cubitt, before the adult told him to "back off".
However, after a time he sent the victim another message, again saying she was "sexy".
Cubitt next messaged the girl after meeting her at a party.
While there he text to say she was "sexy" and commented on what she was wearing.
When the victim left, he accompanied her home, grabbed her around the waist and started kissing her.
Ms Willmott said the girl described "freezing and didn't know what to do with a grown man in her words 'manhandling' her".
Cubitt tried to kiss her again, so she went back to the party, only for Cubitt to do the same.
Ms Willmott said: "She tried to leave to walk home but was followed by Anthony Cubitt, who again kissed her and this time also put his hands down her pants and touched her bottom."
He tried to do this again on her doorstep but she shut the door in his face, before he sent texts saying she was a good kisser and he loved her.
The prosecutor said the girl informed the same adult she previously confided in, "but it is clear she was not believed, and as a result, took an overdose".
The girl went to the police in September 2020, but when Cubitt was interviewed, he denied sending sexual messages, touching or kissing her.
He was released on bail and on August 25 started talking on Facebook to a paedophile hunter posing as a 12-year-old girl called "Rosie".
Cubitt called Rosie "beautiful, a sweetheart, cute, stunning and good looking", then asked her out and told her she was his girlfriend and not to tell her mum.
Ms Willmott said in one chat "he claims that he is not a paedophile and then sends topless pictures of himself".
She added: "He then says he would have sex with her, make her moan and get her pregnant."
Rosie repeatedly reminded him she was 12, but he offered to take her to the cinema, to buy her gifts and to meet her at Southampton train station on September 3 and "teach her everything".
He was confronted by the paedophile hunters on August 30, before police arrested him on September 18.
Ms Willmott said: "He initially blamed his brother for the offences and when interviewed later that day accepted sending messages and knowing Rosie's age, but denied sending the most explicit messages, again suggesting that his brother could have sent them."
Cubitt admitted three counts of sexual communication with a child, one of inciting child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of sexual activity with a child and one of attempted sexual communication with a child.
The victim said Cubitt's abuse left her afraid to walk around Birkenhead and scared and wary of older men.
The girl, who attended court, said she was even anxious around friends' dads.
In a victim statement she said what the "predator" did was "disgusting" and he "made her life a misery", but she wanted to stop it happening to someone else.
Cubitt has eight previous convictions for 16 offences, mainly for dishonesty.
Rebecca Smith, defending, said the dad, who has limited contact with his children under supervision, knew he would be jailed.
She said: "The defendant himself has had a very disruptive childhood and upbringing."
Ms Smith said her client had been addicted to alcohol after he began drinking at 12, and while this was "no excuse", alcohol was perhaps a "disinhibitor" for him.
Recorder Ian Harris, described Cubitt's behaviour towards the girl as "depraved" and said he sent her "crude and inappropriate" texts.
The judge said Cubitt might not have realised, but he was a "catalyst" for his victim's suicide attempt.
Recorder Harris said Cubitt exchanged more than 100 messages with the decoy, who he tried to groom.
He said Cubitt was assessed in a pre-sentence report as "a high risk of serious harm to children", based on factors including "the predatory sexual nature of these offences" and "the fact that you minimise the seriousness of your offending and express no victim awareness or empathy".
The judge said he only accepted limited responsibility and "often blamed" the girl for his behaviour.
He labelled Cubitt's offending "determined, unpleasant, predatory and persistent" as he jailed him for three years.
Recorder Harris told Cubitt to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and abide by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.
He then commended the bravery of the victim, who cried as she was consoled by a friend.