Hucknall paedophile used false name to befriend and groom three young boys

72-year-old Alan Carlson used the surname 'Sharp' when he befriended the grandparents of two young boys, both aged under ten, in October 2021, said prosecutor Abigail Joyce.

He spent Christmas with the family and began taking the boys, and their friend, to a park, two-to-three times a week, where he bought them sweets, drinks and expensive gifts like football boots.

But the visits finished in June when the boys' mother contacted social services, concerned about who 'Alan Sharp' really was.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Carlson took pictures of the boys, but there was no evidence he indecently assaulted them.

“There was grooming behaviour but they found out his proper identity before any substantive contact or offences were committed,” said Judge William Harbage KC.

Carlson, formerly of Portland Road, Hucknall, admitted four breaches of a sexual offences prevention order, made in 2013, and breaching a notification order by failing to register the name ‘Alan Sharp’.

The court heard he has 32 previous convictions for 74 offences, including 12 sex offences dating back to the 1970s, when he was jailed twice for indecently assaulting children.

In 2017, Carlson was jailed for 32 months for four breaches of a sexual prevention order, made in 2001, which banned him from having contact with children under the age of 16.

He was arrested after concerns were raised about him helping out at the social club where families took their children.

David Outterside, prosecuting, said: "Mr Carlson is remorseful and is realistic about how the court will sentence him.

"In my submission that is important and will help the court determine future risks," he said. "There was no contact. It occurred in public places.

"He is not in good health. The risk will decline. The prison sentence is obviously going to be keenly felt for an elderly man."

On Wednesday, Judge Harbage described Carlson as ‘manipulative and calculating’ and said his ‘flagrant’ breaches formed a pattern with similar offending over the years.

Carlson, who is assessed as posing ‘a high-risk of contact sexual offences’, thanked the judge as he was jailed for 32 months.