Judge told him: ‘That doesn’t explain why you were talking to what you thought was a 12-year-old girl’
Sex offender Aaron Cartwright(Image: Hull Live)
A cocaine and cannabis user blamed his drug addiction – and drinking “an obscene amount of Stella” – for his “deviant” behaviour after being caught sending explicit videos to what he thought was a 12-year-old girl. But his story was rejected by a judge, who told him that this did not explain why he was talking to the decoy girl in the first place, Hull Crown Court heard.
Aaron Cartwright, 29, of Sutton Way, east Hull, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child between February 5 and March 11, 2024. He also admitted three offences of making indecent images of children between November 20, 2023 and April 4, 2024, two offences of possessing indecent images of children and another of possessing extreme pornography, involving a cat.
Holly Thompson, prosecuting, said that an undercover regional crime unit officer set up a decoy account in the name of a 12-year-old girl on a Hull Fun group. Cartwright sent messages to her in February 2024, first on the Kik platform and then moving to Snapchat.
The fake girl told him how old she supposedly was. The chats “escalated” to him sending images to her and asking: “What else would you like to see? Can be anything you want.”
He sent explicit images or videos and asked her if she liked it and wanted to see more. There were further sexualised messages and he made sexual suggestions to her, including asking what she was wearing under her school uniform.
Police traced Cartwright and he was arrested. His mobile phone was seized and examined. Indecent images of children were found, including in the most serious Category A, as well as an extreme pornography image.
He told police that he had a cocaine addiction at the time and that, when he was “intoxicated” after taking drugs, he could not remember much. “He denied talking to a child in a sexual way,” said Miss Thompson.
When he was told that the indecent images had been found, he said: “F***ing h**l.” He accepted that he encouraged the girl to send images to him.
“He was soliciting images and asking to see her underwear,” said Miss Thompson. “The defendant was sending multiple videos of himself on repeated occasions.”
Cartwright had no previous convictions and he had been unemployed for about six weeks after previously working for a large company. He told the court: “During the time of this offence, I was heavily on cocaine use and I was drinking heavily. I wasn’t in a great place.”
Judge Gurdial Singh replied: “That doesn’t explain why you were talking to what you thought was a 12-year-old girl.” Cartwright had been drinking “an obscene amount of Stella” as well as taking cocaine and cannabis.
Judge Singh said that he “rejected” Cartwright’s claim that he was not attracted to children. “You have a deviant interest in children,” said Judge Singh.
“You simply can’t acknowledge that because you know what society thinks of that.” It was “vile and disgusting” behaviour and Cartwright had an “underlying perversion”.
It was not a victimless crime because children were abused for the pleasure of Cartwright and others. “By looking for that, you create a market place,” said Judge Singh.
“This isn’t just like looking at something on a screen without any consequence. You attempted to communicate with a child and you compounded that by having images in your possession, images of children.
“You were persistent. You sent multiple videos and, as far as you were aware, this was a 12-year-old girl. At the heart of this, there are children being abused for the likes of you.”
Cartwright was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, 180 hours’ unpaid work and 20 days’ rehabilitation. He was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order and he must register as a sex offender for 10 years. He will have to pay a £187 victims’ surcharge and his iPhone will be forfeited.
“A short custodial sentence will not provide the same level of protection,” said Judge Singh. “My primary concern is to protect the public.
“If I am wrong, you will be back and you will go to prison. You need to be punished for what you have done.”
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