A MARRIED Coventry man should have considered he had had a lucky escape when he turned up to meet a 12-year-old girl for sex, only to find she had apparently stood him up.
But rather than coming to his senses, Steven Cardwell continued to send sexually-charged messages to her as he arranged a further rendezvous.
And this time the person he had been communicating with did appear – not a 12-year-old girl, but a male police officer who arrested him, Warwick Crown Court has heard.
Cardwell (47) of Abercorn Road, Chapelfields, Coventry, was jailed for two years and eight months and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
He had pleaded guilty to charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.
Prosecutor Andrew Wilkins said that, in August, Cardwell began communicating on a chat site with someone who told him she was ‘nearly 13.’
Unknown to him, it was in fact a convert police officer, and despite having been told ‘her’ age, Cardwell continued to send messages in quite graphic terms.
He raised the question of having oral sex with her and sent her pictures of him exposing himself.
Cardwell encouraged her to bunk off school so they could meet, and they arranged to meet at Coventry railway station on September 5, said Mr Wilkins.
“As it happened, no-one from the police was able to go to that meeting – but the defendant had, because he was concerned she had changed her mind.
“He asked her to meet again. They discussed somewhere they would be in private, and he made it clear he was talking about penetrative sex.”
But when he turned up for that meeting, he was arrested and made full admissions about his activity, explaining that he was attracted to both males and females.
He admitted the indecent images of himself and said he knew the planned first meeting was wrong, adding that he had met an adult male in similar circumstances.
“He said he felt guilty about cheating on his wife and because she was under-age. He said he found school uniforms a turn-on,” added Mr Wilkins.
Handing in letters from Cardwell’s wife and father-in-law, Giles Morrison, defending, conceded: “Mr Cardwell’s best mitigation is his guilty plea and his previous good character.
“He is remorseful. He has expressed sincere remorse and shame. He is shocked at what he has done.
“In relation to him and his wife, their relationship has not been a conventional one. He turned to the internet and communication with people online to receive sexual pleasure.”
Mr Morrison said Cardwell had been dismissed from his job after his employers found out about the offences, and although his wife works, she also cares for her father.
And if Cardwell was not around, she might have to take a break from her job or give it up, he added, asking the judge to pass a suspended sentence.
But jailing Cardwell, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “You are a hard-working man, and until now you have been a blameless citizen.
“This is a bad case of its type. There are, of course, genuine mitigating factors in your case including genuine remorse, and I accept you were sick to your stomach at what you did.
“But try as I might, I don’t think I can bring the starting point for these offences down to below four years.
“I will bring that down for your guilty pleas to 32 months, but that is too long to be suspended.”
