Sheffield Crown Court: Sex offender begins prison sentence after posing as boy to send sexual messages to girl

Craig Elliott-Walker appeared shell-shocked as he was led out of Sheffield Crown Court to start a 14-month prison sentence, following a hearing held on February 11.

As he jailed Elliott-Walker, Judge Peter Kelson QC described the devastating and prolonged distress his offending had caused his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

"Your behaviour in this case has been utterly repulsive,” said Judge Kelson QC.

Outlining the case, prosecution barrister Kevin Jones described how Elliott-Walker instigated a conversation with the victim, who was then 15 years old.

"She believed he was a boy her own age… and he sent her pictures of a boy in his underwear to confirm this,” Mr Jones said.

Elliott-Walker’s conversations with the girl developed quickly, and the girl soon believed she was in a relationship with him.

They began talking about becoming physically intimate with one another, and the defendant indicated he was ‘prepared to wait until she turned 16’ for them to have sex, the court heard.

The nature of their conversations continued to develop, and after sending her pictures of a boy in his underwear, Elliott-Walker ‘pestered’ the girl for pictures of her in her underwear.

When she complied, Elliott-Walker then told her he wished he could see pictures of her naked, the court heard.

Elliott-Walker’s offending took place between August and September 2018, but it was not brought before the court until last year.

In a statement to the court, the victim said Elliott-Walker’s deception had profoundly affected her and led to her feeling unable to trust men.

She described, how, in the three years since his offending occurred, she had changed significantly and was now someone she ‘didn’t recognise’.

Elliott-Walker, formerly of Brampton Avenue, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to a charge of engaging in sexual communication with a child at an earlier hearing.

Chris Aspinall, defending, said the offending took place over ‘a short period of time,’ and over three years had now passed.

He suggested Elliott-Walker could be kept out of prison, and dealt with using a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) with ‘onerous’ conditions.

This was rejected by Judge Kelson, who, in addition to jailing Elliott-Walker, also made him the subject of a 10-year SHPO and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.