August 2023

Pervert flashed horrified children from his bedroom window for 11 years

A “sexually deviant” pensioner stood on furniture while performing sex acts out of his bedroom window as horrified children watched on.

Robin Cunningham repeatedly flashed kids outside his home over a period of more than a decade.

The previously convicted sex offender was said to have “derived sexual gratification from being seen” by the youngsters, who were left “corrupted” by his sickening actions.

Liverpool Crown Court heard, how he regularly exposed himself from the window of his home on Burnthwaite Road in Knotty Ash while masturbating.

Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, described how his perverted behaviour – which persisted for some 11 years – was witnessed by children wearing their school uniform and aged as young as four, while one recorded him with her mobile phone.

Cunningham would “sometimes stand on the bed or dressers” to “become more visible” to his victims.

The 68-year-old has one previous conviction for indecent exposure, being fined in 1998 after “masturbating in the street towards females”.

A statement read out to the court on one complainant said he had shown a “calculated pattern of behaviour” and that she would be left “struggling for the rest of her life” as a result. She added: “I was inducted into a dark and malicious world I was not ready to experience.”

Cunningham, who was said to suffer from diabetes and anxiety, formerly worked for an insurance company before taking redundancy

Cunningham admitted five counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and three of exposure. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Sentencing, Recorder David Knifton KC said that the defendant had engaged in “disgusting behaviour” and added: “On numerous occasions over a period of 11 years, you deliberately masturbated while standing naked in your bedroom window so you could be seen. It is clear to me that you derived sexual gratification from being seen in these circumstances.

“Your actions undoubtedly had a corrupting effect. You have frankly admitted that you have had a sexual interest in exhibitionism from an early age.

“You became bored and socially isolated. To your credit, you have demonstrated a commitment to seeking to change your behaviour.”

Cunningham was told to sign the sex offenders’ register for life. He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order preventing him from contacting the complainants, both of which will run for the next 10 years.