Aaron Sutton 25

Description

A paedophile 'lied' to a judge about wanting to change, while having sexualised chats with a child online.

Aaron Sutton, 22, was originally spared jail after being found with indecent images of children.

But after being given a chance and having his progress reviewed by a judge, Sutton was in contact with a child on the internet.

Their online messages included 'highly sexualised conversation'.

Now Sutton, from Northenden, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after Judge Anthony Cross QC said he had been 'fooling' the probation service and had lied to him.

"I was assured by the probation service and by you that you were responding to the terms of the order," the judge said.

"That was just a lie. You were given the opportunity to change, you didn't.

"You were lying to yourself, lying to the probation service, lying to your father and lying to me.

"Because during the course of the suspended sentence order, you struck up a relationship with a 12-year-old child in foster care.

"She was vulnerable, and you committed offences against her.

"She had a terrible personal history, and you have made her condition worse, much worse."

Manchester Crown Court heard that in October 2019, Sutton received a six month suspended sentence for making indecent images of children.

A sexual harm prevention order was passed banning any unsupervised contact with female children, and prohibiting him from having devices capable of accessing the internet unless he registered them with police.

Sutton attended hearings before a judge at court, where his progress with the order was reviewed.

But it was discovered that Sutton had been in contact with the girl online during that time.

"Each time he appeared in front of me, I asked him if he was complying with the conditions," the judge said.

"He assured me, at the same time he was committing these offences."

The 'vulnerable' girl had described Sutton as a friend from a previous school but he was 11 years older than her, prosecutor Rachel Faux said.

She regarded Sutton as her 'boyfriend' and sent photos of herself to him without him asking, the court heard.

The police were alerted, and Sutton was found to be in breach of the sexual harm prevention order by contacting the girl and having a laptop he hadn't registered.

Sutton was arrested and released on bail, but attempted to contact the girl on Snapchat. The pair never met in person.

Defending, Bob Elias said the girl had 'embraced' the conversation with Sutton.

"She has to be protected from herself, because she is a child," he said.

"He thought he had entered into an enthusiastic relationship with a young girl."

Sutton, of Greenpark Road, Northenden, pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child, and three counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.