A twisted paedophile who “manipulated” his way into being left alone with a naked toddler who had started calling him “dada” has been jailed.
Gary Cookson’s girlfriend left him alone at home to look after her two-and-a-half-year-old son, completely unaware that the 27-year-old had a history of possessing child sexual abuse images. Cookson was convicted for possessing the harmful material in 2023 and placed on a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), but had failed to inform his new partner, infringing on the order which requires registered offenders to disclose the details of sex-related crimes when forming a new relationship.
Cookson’s lies have now landed him in jail after Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard his partner, who has not been named, left him alone with her son. The court was told that the young child had started calling him “dada”, and that he had at one point dried him off after manipulating his way into the family home.
Stoke-on-Trent Live reported that Cookson, of Talke Road, Chesterton, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after it was heard he failed to comply with the notification requirements between January 1, 2024 and February 12, 2024, when he started the relationship. He then offended again on February 15, when he went on applications he was banned from using.
Authorities seized his phone and found Snapchat on the device, and he was found to have failed to notify his user name as he was required to do. Further offences included failure to comply with notification requirement telling him to inform the police when staying in a house with a 17-year-old child for 12 hours or more and deleting a TikTok message.
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” and felt “isolated” when he went on Snapchat before events “spiralled out of control”. He 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.”
Mr Mohammed added there was “no evidence of any actual harm done” and that no material was found “that would cause the authorities any concern”. He continued: “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 however that the risk of harm was “extremely real and significant” as he was left alone with a naked child.
He 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.
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