Gary Cookson 27

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Pervert Gary Cookson has been jailed after he lied to his girlfriend about his seedy past. The 27-year-old failed to tell his new partner that he had previously been caught with child abuse images and was convicted in 2023.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he was left alone with her two-and-a-half-year-old child. And at one point he dried the youngster off and dressed the child who started calling him 'Dada'.

This placed him in breach of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register. Now Cookson, of Talke Road, Chesterton, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

The court heard he failed to comply with the notification requirements between January 1, 2024 and February 12, 2024 when he started a new relationship. The next offending happened on February 15, 2024 and involved him going on apps which he was banned from using. His phone was seized and Snapchat was found on the device. He failed to notify his user name as he was required to do.

Cookson then failed to comply with his notification requirements by not informing the police he was staying in a house with a 17-year-old child for 12 hours or more. He also deleted a TikTok message.

The final spate of offending involved him failing to register a Snapchat user name and breaching the SHPO by deliberately concealing a mobile phone.

Cookson pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a SHPO and four charges of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

Rashad Mohammed, mitigating, said Cookson 'found himself in a lonely state'. Mr Mohammed said: "He felt he was isolated. He went on to Snapchat. He activated an account. The matters spiralled out of control. He failed to stop to assess the consequences of his behaviour.

"There is no evidence of any actual harm done. His phone was interrogated. There is no suggestion there was any material that would cause the authorities any concern.

"At the time he showed a great deal of immaturity. He failed to properly recognise the seriousness of the court order. He does ask me to express to you his regret and his remorse.

"He has been in custody since October 24, the equivalent of just over 10 months. It has been a real eye-opener for him . It has been a wake-up call for him, the level of violence he has seen in person."

Mr Mohammed added that Cookson has two children and comes from a respectable family. Recorder Robert Smith said: "You knew full well what you were not allowed to do. Your primary sexual interest seems to be with female children. The risk of harm was extremely real and significant when you were drying off a naked two-and-a-half year old.

"You were extremely persistent in the way you flouted the regulations. You manipulated your way into a position of trust in a family home with an infant child.

"You need to learn a lesson. You need to learn to abide by the terms of the order or you will be sent to prison."

The judge made a deprivation order for the devices seized.