May 2019 Paedophile said he worked in child protection to ‘fly under the radar’ A sex offender told two single mums he had to ‘slip under the radar’ because he had carried out sensitive work for the police and armed forces. Craig Foster, 54, claimed to have been in the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment and said he had worked in child protection for the police when he formed relationships with the women in Barrow and Millom. But he was really a paedophile who had spent time in prison for sexually assaulting a young boy and having unlawful sex with a teenage girl – and was banned from spending time with children indefinitely. In 2013, Foster, was jailed for four years for using his then wife as ‘bait’ to lure a 14-year-old boy to their home where they sexually ‘debauched’ him in the late 1990s. Yesterday, Preston Crown Court heard Foster, of Lindal Street, Barrow, used a false name when he started dating the first woman, who had two teenage daughters. He would visit the house most evenings, often staying overnight and even helped decorate one of the children’s bedrooms. When that relationship ended, he went on to have a relationship with another woman, who also had teenage children. During a car trip from Millom to Barrow, Foster told one boy to hide when they passed a police car – claiming he was only insured to carry two passengers. Judge Simon Medland QC, sentencing, said: “This shows manipulative and dishonest behaviour and a blatant disregard for the preventative parts of your order.” Following his arrest the first woman said she felt betrayed and was horrified to learn she had let a paedophile into her home with access to her children. Foster had formed a bond with the children and had even paid money into one of the girls’ bank accounts – although iIt is not thought he abused them in any way. Judge Medland said Foster’s behaviour was so serious he had to send him straight back to prison, despite the court hearing Foster was terrified of a return to custody. He said: “You claimed, in a very manipulative and dishonest way, that you needed to keep below the radar because of your previous occupation in the armed forces, which was rubbish. “You were quite clear that you were not to be involved in taking any steps which breached the SOPO (Sexual Offences Prevention Order). “That is exemplified by your lies, claiming to be part of sensitive armed forces and by asking the boy to hide from the police.” Foster admitted two breaches of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and was jailed for two years. February 2013 Pair jailed for sexually abusing 14-year-old boy A man and his ex-wife have been jailed after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at their Cumbria home in the 1990s. Craig Foster, 47, from Kirkland, Kendal, pleaded guilty to six charges of indecent assault and was jailed for four years at Carlisle Crown Court. Anne-Marie Foster, 37, from Mary Fell, denied three similar charges but was convicted and jailed for 18 months. Both were put on the sex offenders register and banned from ever working with children. The pair abused the boy at their home in Sedbergh in the late 1990s. The court heard that Foster used his wife at the time as “bait” to attract the boy into their house. Judge Paul Batty QC described it as a “truly depressing and disgusting case”. January 2013 Couple warned they face prison for sexually assaulting teenager in their Sedbergh home A COUPLE who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy at their home in Sedbergh have both been put on the sex offenders’ register and warned they are likely to be sent to prison. Craig Foster, 47, and his 36-year-old ex wife Anne-Marie abused the boy when he made three midnight visits to gain his first sexual experience with them in the late 1990s. The boy – who is now grown-up and gave evidence in a trial at Carlisle Crown Court – said he had been left so confused by what happened that at one time he thought he might have been gay. He said it had had a “profound effect” on his life and had driven him to drink heavily. He only told anyone about it when he saw Craig Foster in the street last year. Foster, who now lives in Kirkland, Kendal, pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to six charges of indecent assault. His ex wife, of Mary Fell, Sedbergh maintained her not guilty pleas to three similar charges but was found guilty by a 10 to two majority verdict after a trial. The pair were both remanded on bail for background reports. They will be sentenced on February 21. Judge Paul Batty QC told them a custodial sentence was “extremely likely”. During the four-day trial prosecuting barrister Katie Jones said Foster had used his wife as “bait” to attract the boy into their house, where they both assaulted him. She told the jury of five women and seven men it happened because the boy was lacking in confidence and having no success with girls of his own age. Craig Foster – then aged 32 and known as Barry Harding – invited him round to his house in Sedbergh to watch pornographic videos he had made of his 21-year-old wife, she said. Then, Ms Jones said, Foster asked the boy to go back to the house at midnight because his wife “fancied” him. The boy went because he was “flattered”, Ms Jones said, and once there he was shown into the bedroom where, with Foster’s wife lying on the bed smoking, he was told to strip to his boxer shorts. Then, the court heard, Foster lifted his wife’s top and told him to touch his wife’s naked breasts. The woman – the first the boy had ever seen naked – then performed a sex act, and got him to do the same to her, before sending him home to his mother. Ms Jones told the jury it was the first of three consecutive nights on which the boy visited the couple’s home for sexual activity. “Anne-Marie Foster was used effectively as bait to lure the boy to the house for her sexual gratification and that of her husband,” she said. “He had mixed feelings and confused about what had happened,” she said. “It was his first sexual experience with a woman and it made him feel good. “Because there was a naked woman there it made him want to go back for more experiences with her.”