Description
A registered sex offender from near Maidstone has been jailed after claiming that he was only talking to an underage girl to get her banned from a website.
Officers paid an unannounced visit to the home address of Darren Cross on Tuesday 3 February 2026. When they searched his phone, they discovered he had made new online profiles and hadn't disclosed the usernames to Kent Police, which is a failure to comply with his sex offenders register requirements.
They also found he had deleted his internet history and had attempted to sexually communicate with a child.
The 42 year old was arrested. During his custody interview, he tried to defend his actions by saying he was trying to find underage children on the site to report to the moderator so they would be banned.
However, officers had evidence that Cross sent multiple messages of a sexual nature to who he believed was a 13 year old girl.
Cross, from Ditton, was charged with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two counts of failing to comply with the sex offenders register requirements and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Thursday 14 May 2026 at Maidstone Crown Court to two years' imprisonment.
Investigating officer PC Charlotte Wilson said:
'Cross is a manipulative individual who tried to cover up his crimes by deleting his search history and creating profiles under fake names.
'Not only that, but he came up with far-fetched lies and acted as though he was protecting children online, when in fact he was the one they needed protecting from.
'Although he didn't actually harm anyone, his intentions were clear and I'm glad to see him behind bars.
'It shows that we will monitor and manage sex offenders to ensure they comply with their conditions. If they don’t, we will make sure they are prosecuted.'