Giles Cockett

**Giles Cockett** is a 37 year old male who was stung by Soul Survivors in 2018, acting on behalf of the Templar Knights. At the time of the sting, Cockett was 32 years old and he volunteered in a local charity book shop. He is described as living independently and as a regular church-goer.

## Sting

Cockett was approached by Soul Survivors in the Crewe area of the UK, in a sting operation concerning his inappropriate online activity. Cockett claimed he was a moderator on the online forum "Virtual Teen" which is designed for use by pre-teens and adolescents to communicate with each other and offer advice, stating that he used this website to direct teens to what he viewed as more appropriate websites.

However, during the sting it emerges that he had been speaking to multiple underage decoy accounts in a sexually explicit manner, with Cockett having sent indecent images of his penis to a decoy account representing what he believed to be a 14-year old virgin girl, instructing her and another decoy account representing her "friend" on how to masturbate using their vulva (or "foof" as the decoy referred to it) and telling her that he wanted to engage in a sexual relationship with her. Additionally, Cockett sent the same underage decoy a "survey" from one to twelve for them to describe the size of their breasts on a numbered scale, as well as quizzing them on the colour of their pubic hair.

Early on during the sting video, Cockett declares he has Asperger's syndrome, and he displays various levels of distress due to this condition, claiming that it means he finds it difficult to understand age differences of girls online, and that he believed the profiles he had been speaking to were 18 years of age. However, he states that he understands the age of consent in the UK is 16 years old; it then emerges from chat logs with the 14 year old decoy that he knew what he was doing was illegal, in that he asked the decoy to delete the chat history as he didn't want to get caught by the police, and the decoy had informed him of their age on multiple occasions, to which he responded that he knew they were 14 and that he was OK with it.

He attributes loneliness as a motive for his actions, stating that he talks to anyone who shows him friendliness and approval irrespective of their age, additionally stating his belief that the state "puts everyone together regardless of age". In the video, to justify his actions, he states his belief that in the "Asperger's world", there is no age difference as people of all ages attend autistic events and the local disco.

## Sentencing

On 5 June 2018, Soul Survivors revealed that Cockett had been charged with three counts of engaging in sexual communications and activity with minors. He later plead guilty to these charges at Chester Crown Court, where it was heard that he had been speaking to at least seven underage girls online. Cockett was spared a custodial sentence, instead being sentenced to a three-year community order. Additionally, he was ordered to register as a sex offender for five years, and he was made subject to a three-year sexual harm prevention order - which ordered him to participate in an accredited sex offenders treatment programme, and prohibited him from using any form of device capable of accessing the internet.

## Aftermath

The sting video involving Cockett has since become a viral hit across multiple social media networks, most notably Twitter, with several snippets of the sting and phrases used by Cockett being widely shared and mocked across these platforms. The original sting video on YouTube has amassed over 1,000,000 views as of late 2023, and numerous parody/commentary style videos based on the sting have also gained significant viral traction. This follows in a similar vein to other similar pedophile sting videos gaining viral traction at the time of recording. Some viewers expressed concern over the sting video being released into the public domain, concerns surrounding Cockett's vulnerability as an adult with Asperger's syndrome.

A separate Facebook video has also since emerged of Cockett being confronted by a member of the public in the Caernarfon area of Wales.

As of 2023, Cockett has not re-offended following the expiry of his term as a registered sex offender. The restrictions placed on him surrounding his use of the internet have also now since expired.