A Hornsea man has been jailed for one year and eight months after sexually assaulting a teenage girl in a park in the town.
Matthew Full, 44, of Lindale Avenue, was sentenced at Hull Crown Court on Friday, November 7. He was also given a 10-year restraining order and a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He had earlier pleaded guilty to engaging in non-penetrative sexual touching with a girl aged between 13 and 15.
The court heard the incident took place in April 2025 when a teenage girl and two friends reported that a man had approached them while they were sitting on a bench in Hall Garth Park.
Full sat next to the girl and touched her on the thigh, before asking her about her feet and whether she painted her toenails. He then asked for her phone number and, feeling uncomfortable, she gave it to him in an attempt to get him to leave.
Following house-to-house inquiries and examination of CCTV in the area, Full was identified and arrested at his home shortly afterwards on suspicion of sexual assault of a child.
An investigation by the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit followed. Full’s phone was seized, and digital forensic analysis uncovered messages exchanged between him and the girl, as well as a number of photographs of feet. When questioned by officers, Full denied the incident and claimed he did not know what a thigh was.
Detective Constable Birkenhead from the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit said: “Full knowingly approached three teenagers in school uniform and targeted the teenage girl, making her feel uncomfortable by inappropriately touching her thigh without her consent, before asking her about her feet all to appease his own perverse sexual fetishes.
“She then felt the only way to get rid of him and to stop him from continuing to touch her, was to give him her number in a vain attempt to get him away.
“Following mobile phone analysis of the messages Full sent the girl, it was established that Full was fully aware that she was at school and underage. However, that did not deter him from attempting to sexually engage with her.
“I would like to commend the bravery of the girl for coming forward and reporting Full’s behaviour and also thank the two boys she was with for assisting with our inquiries and defending their friend which ultimately enabled officers to stack up significant evidence against him, leading him to deciding to plead guilty for the offence.
“Understandably, the girl was left distressed by the incident, and whilst the result in court will not take away the fear she must have felt at the time, I hope her, her friends and her family are reassured that Full is behind bars and has a significant restraining order and sexual harm prevention order in place to prevent him from committing any more crimes of this nature.
“We would urge anyone who has experienced something similar, has witnessed crimes of this nature or have any concerns whatsoever about any sexual offences you believe have taken place, to please contact us on our non-emergency number 101. Always call 999 in an emergency or if a crime is ongoing.
“We take all reports of sexual offences extremely seriously, and we will always do everything in our power to identify perpetrators and hold individuals like Full accountable for their crimes.”