Description
A paedophile sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy as he played out on his bike. The child was approached by 21-year-old Kai Huston, while he was out near his home in Salford on a summer’s afternoon.
The boy’s bike had broken and Huston offered to help, Manchester Crown Court heard. He asked the child "if I fix this for you, will you do something for me?" before sexually assaulting him.
Now Huston has been declared ‘dangerous’ and locked up. Prosecutors told how Huston had previously been arrested by police after he was found to have uploaded a category A indecent image of a child - the most serious type - on Snapchat in July 2021.
He was caught but then released under investigation. Then two years later he sexually assaulted the boy, aged 12 at the time.
The child was playing out on a residential street in Salford, on a Thursday afternoon in July. It was a school day, but he was at home because teachers were on strike, prosecutor David Toal said.
He had been riding his bike, but the chain had broken and he was trying to fix it. Huston got out of an Uber nearby.
He then 'ushered' the child to a 'more secluded location' in a nearby alleyway, and offered to help fix the bike. Huston then crouched and put his arms around the child.
He touched the boy on the 'bottom area' and his lower back. Huston told him 'don't go anywhere' and said 'if I help you with this chain, will I get something back?'
He also asked: "If I fix this for you, will you do something for me?" During the incident Huston had asked the boy how old he was, and he told him he was just 12.
The boy was 'frightened' during the assault and at one point tried to leave. As he tried to run away, Huston 'grabbed' him by his T-shirt, but he was able to break free and escape.
The police were alerted, and Huston was caught. Defending, Hugh Barton said Huston's motivations in approaching the boy had initially been 'entirely innocent'.
"This was not him out looking for someone or targeting an individual in that way," he said. Huston has been diagnosed with autism and experienced a 'desperately difficult' childhood, Mr Barton told the court.
He said Huston was a 'vulnerable figure' and 'in many ways a damaged one'. Huston, from, Salford, pleaded guilty to distributing an indecent image of a child, and sexually assaulting a child.
Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad KC declared Huston a ‘dangerous’ offender. It means he will serve two-thirds of a four year sentence in prison, before he will be monitored for an additional two years on licence.
Huston was ordered to sign the sex offender's register for life.