Wigan man sentenced to 18 years for sexual activity with nine-year-old girl

A Wigan man who sexually abused a nine-year-old child and forced her to send him indecent photos of herself has been sentenced to eighteen years in prison.

Alan Cunningham, 63, pleaded guilty in June 2023 to four counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 13 and possession of an indecent photograph/pseudophotograph of a child. Cunningham was also forced to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely

In May 2019, Cunningham began sexually assaulting a nine-year-old child and forced her to send him indecent photos of herself.

His behavior continued until March 2023, when the mother of one noticed inappropriate text messages from Cunningham to her daughter.

Cunningham sent the victim text messages with comments such as “Where are my kisses at the end of the messages” and “You could have taken me to the bathroom.”

During the investigation, several Category C images were found on the device confiscated from Cunningham, where he asked the victim to send nude images in exchange for money.