A 'disgraceful' paedophile woke a sleeping boy up in a tent before abusing him - making him feel like he was having an 'anxiety attack'. Michael Cullen displayed 'elements of planning and grooming behaviour' before carrying out the abuse, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
The 36-year-old, from Cheshire, was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity and incitement following a trial. As he sentenced Cullen on Monday (April 25), Judge David Swinnerton suggested that he had indulged in behaviour that could be described as 'flirtation' if it 'happened between two people of the same age'.
It involved spraying water at the boy’s 'groin', drawing a dog on his thigh, and 'stroking his leg with his foot', the Liverpool Echo reports. Judge Swinnerton said Cullen had woken his victim in a tent, touched him under clothes and coaxed the boy to do the same to him.
Cullen’s victim felt like he was having an 'anxiety attack' and 'zipped his sleeping bag back up'. Prosecuting, Henry Riding said the boy had provided two impact statements but did not want them to be read out in court.
Judge Swinnerton confirmed he had read them and the victim said the abuse had a 'significant impact on him', and the boy had 'struggled to sleep' and his relationships had been affected. Carmel Wilde, defending, said there had been no long-term grooming and no drink, drugs or 'luring', and although there was a 'disparity' in age, she called it 'not a gross disparity' - a claim later rejected by the judge.
She urged the judge to consider that Cullen had no previous convictions and showed willing to engage in the Horizon sex offender programme, adding he remained 'in denial'. Ms Wilde said there was a 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation' and said references had been submitted to the court describing 'positives' in Cullen’s character, suggesting a suspended sentence with rehabilitation could serve the public interest.
She said there had been threats in connection with the case, including that Cullen 'would be killed' if he was imprisoned. Judge Swinnerton sentenced Cullen to three years in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for life alongside a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order.
Branding the abuse 'disgraceful', he said: “There was undoubtedly a significant disparity in your ages and there are elements of planning and grooming.” Cullen, of Catherine Street, Widnes, must also pay a statutory victim surcharge.
