Raunds paedophile pestered 12-year-old girl for naked pictures and shared them

He's been put behind bars
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

A paedophile from Raunds pestered a young girl into sharing naked pictures and threatened to leak them - before sending them to her step-dad.

Aaron Waterfield left his 12-year-old victim, who he did not know, feeling "shame and embarrassment" after targeting her online.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And when he was finally caught he insisted he was innocent, claiming his social media account had been accessed by a friend.

Aaron Waterfield.Aaron Waterfield.
Aaron Waterfield.

Waterfield, 23, later admitted his twisted actions and yesterday (Tuesday) he was jailed for 14 months.

Northampton Crown Court heard Waterfield, of Grombold Avenue, contacted his victim on Facebook in early 2020 and told her he was in his 20s.

He initially didn't know her true age as her profile's date of birth was incorrect, but became aware she was 12 about two weeks after making contact.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Prosecuting, Sinjin Bulbring said Waterfield persistently asked her to send naked pictures of herself, using several identities including a fake account, despite her attempts to block him.

The court heard the child eventually got "fed up" and sent three semi-clothed pictures, with Waterfield sending her vulgar pictures of himself.

But he kept asking her for more pictures - making it clear he had screenshotted those already sent and threatening to leak them online.

Mr Bulbring said: "She threatened to tell her mum. He said he did not care if she did."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Waterfield shared pictures, refusing to delete them. And when the girl's step-dad stepped in and asked him to remove them, Waterfield instead sent images to him, causing the family further distress. The court heard the victim's mum felt "physically sick" at what had happened and that it had had an impact on the child's school work.

Police were called and on February 10 last year Waterfield was arrested at his home address. Officers seized two mobile phones with more than two dozen files showing child abuse.

They included nine category A videos, depicting the most depraved abuse, 11 category B images, 18 category B videos and three category C images - the three sent to him by his victim.

But when he was interviewed Waterfield denied any involvement.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Bulbring said: "He said a friend had accessed his social media account."

Waterfield later admitted charges of making indecent images of children, distributing indecent images of children and malicious communications.

When he was interviewed by a probation officer ahead of his sentencing he said he did not have a sexual interest in children - something Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane said was "not honest".

Mitigating, Nicholas Whitehorn said Waterfield was of previous good character and had demonstrated genuine remorse, adding that he was fearful of a prison sentence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: "He is somebody who acknowledges that he has a problem with his thinking, and is somebody who wants to work and deal with this problem and put it behind him."

He urged Judge Crane to suspend any sentence she imposed - but Waterfield was sent straight to prison.

Judge Crane said: "I do not consider it appropriate to suspend the sentence.

"Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Waterfield was jailed for a total of 14 months and will serve up to half in custody before being released on licence.

He will be on the register for sex offenders for 10 years, subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.