My partner was sexting on holiday with our children and got a corner in jail
CLAIRE HALEY, 35, thought Ross Rosario was the perfect partner and father.
But the garbage man’s dirty secret left them and their children heartbroken.
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On a balmy August evening, curled up on the couch, Claire Haley saw her partner Ross’ phone light up.
The 39-year-old garbage collector had gone upstairs to check on their seven-year-old son Marco, who was brushing his teeth.
“I wasn’t deliberately looking, but I could see he had received a message,” said Claire, a children’s worker.
The three words on the screen made her feel physically ill.
“I love you,” the message read.
The sender’s name was someone named Charlotte.
No excuses
Claire says: “With my stomach churning, I confronted Ross as he walked into the kitchen.
“He knew immediately something was wrong because I was shaking and crying.”
But instead of trying to justify or explain his actions, Ross angrily ripped the phone out of Claire’s hand.
She says: ‘His eyes went dark and he looked like he was possessed.
“He just looked at me and said, ‘We’re done, we’re done.’
“It was the worst feeling I had ever known in my life.
“It was like watching a scene from a movie, like it wasn’t really happening to me.”
While Claire comforted their sobbing children, Ross calmly packed two suitcases and called a taxi.
There was no goodbye or apology.
Research shows that three in five fraudsters are now discovered thanks to evidence on phones and other electronic devices.
Shortly after Ross walked out on her, Claire discovered he had been sexting 27-year-old mother-of-one Charlotte Hunter for two months, sharing dozens of explicit photos.
The affair came as even more of a shock because Claire thought he was the perfect family man.
She says: “I first met Ross through mutual friends on a day out at Waltham Abbey in August 2010.
“He asked a friend who I was and told them he liked me.
“He then got in touch and we started dating.
“There was nothing not to like about Ross.
“With his Sicilian background he exuded Italian charm, but he was also kind and brilliant with small children.
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“I was so in love that when he told me he was a garbage man, I didn’t mind the thought of smelly clothes and dirty fingernails.”
Claire thought she had found her prince charming in Ross, who was her first real boyfriend.
After two months of dating, the couple moved into a house together in Waltham Cross, Herts.
She says: “Working with children I always knew I wanted children of my own, and Ross also wanted to be a father.
“So when I became pregnant and gave birth to our son Luca in February 2013, it felt like everything fell into place perfectly.
“Although I knew Ross wanted a daughter, he doted on our baby boy and showered me with compliments, telling me what a great mother I was and calling me beautiful.
“On Facebook he left comments like: ‘My amazing family’ under my photos, calling me ‘babygirl’.
“I trusted him and he trusted me.
“The thought that he would ever cheat just seemed ridiculous.”
Claire lived with a garbage man and was used to Ross’s brutally early start.
We had always enjoyed a healthy sex life, but it was as if we had only just met.
Claire Haley
“Every day he woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go to work at 5 a.m.,” she says.
‘He gave me a map of his waste collection tour, showing exactly which route he took and how long it would take.
“Sometimes he would be ready as early as 11am or in the afternoon and if he said he would be home at a certain time, he would.”
When Claire became pregnant again in 2017, Ross was over the moon.
After their second son, Marco, was born, the family of four moved to their ‘forever home’ in Hoddesdon, Herts.
She says: “Life was great.
“We went for walks in the park, went to the cinema, had picnics, visited museums and went on holiday to Butlin’s every year.”
But a week before Ross’ deception was exposed, the family were enjoying an idyllic seven-day holiday in Lanzarote.
Claire says: “The kids played in the pool and Ross and I chatted happily on the hotel sun loungers.
“It was perfect in every way.
Explicit photos
“Ross and I were intimate too.
“We had always had a healthy sex life, but it was as if we had only just met.
“One night we even had sex in the shower.”
But after returning from their blissful holiday, the mum-of-two’s world came crashing down after Ross’ love rats were exposed.
After he packed his bags and left, Claire went to her mother Diane’s house.
She says: “Mum had been cheated on herself, so she knew what it was like.
‘But she and Ross had always been close, so she was upset about what had happened.
‘She thought if I gave him some time to calm down, he would realize he was wrong and come home.
“But it never happened.”
Days later, Ross told a sobbing Claire that their relationship was over for good.
She said: “He kept repeating: ‘We’re done’, followed by ‘I don’t want you anymore’.”
They took a corner for a moment and then he continued collecting the trash.
Claire Haley
Desperate, Claire told him, “I will do anything, I will change.”
But Ross remained silent.
“He wasn’t defensive at all,” she says.
“He was so calm, he chose his words carefully and didn’t stumble over one word.”
Suddenly Claire felt like the man she had loved for almost fifteen years was a complete stranger.
But worse followed.
Three weeks later, after charging an old phone that Ross said she would give to Luca, Claire found hundreds of TikTok messages to and from Charlotte – explicit photos accompanied by explicit comments.
While he, Claire and their children were on holiday in Lanzarote, Ross had taken a photo of his manhood to send to Charlotte, who had clearly been with a girlfriend at the time.
Claire explains: “I worked it all out from there.
‘He would visit Charlotte after his rubbish run and she would give him breakfast.
‘They had quick sex and then he left.
“It’s unbelievable.”
After finding Charlotte’s Facebook page, Claire was devastated to discover she had blonde hair and blue eyes just like hers.
‘It broke my heart’
Claire adds: “She wore glasses just like me and even had the same initials.
“It was like a punch in the chest and at one point I became physically ill in the bathroom.”
Ross and Charlotte now live together a ten-minute drive from Claire and are building a new life as a couple.
She says: “The other day Marco asked, ‘Why is daddy going home to a new little girl?’ It broke my heart.
‘What should you say to a seven-year-old who doesn’t understand why his lying father abandoned him?
“It’s just a matter of putting my best foot forward for the kids and me.
“I found out the hard way that my garbage man was trash after all.”
Ross says: “I’m with Charlotte now.
“I didn’t just unpack my suitcase and pack it again after the holidays.
‘I knew Charlotte before I started emptying her bins.
“We had an affair and now we’re together.”
Sneaky Signals: How to Catch a Cheater by Phone
Psychologist Emma Kenny reveals the red flags to look out for on cheats’ mobile phones. . .
NOTIFICATIONS SILENT: When someone tries to hide something, they often stop warnings.
PASSWORD CHANGES: If your partner has always been open with their phone access and suddenly changes their password, it’s time to ask why.
DELETED MESSAGES AND CALL LOGS: If you have noticed any suspicious behavior, checking the call logs or messages may confirm your concerns. A cheater will likely delete messages, call logs, or entire apps.
EXCESSIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND CHAT APP: Pay attention to which apps they use most often and whether they use private chat features more often.
ACTING OLD AROUND THEIR PHONE: If they take their phone to the bathroom more often than usual, or out of your sight, they may be hiding something.
SECOND ISSUE: Even if they claim it’s a work or emergency phone, a second device is a red flag.
UNKNOWN NAMES: Be wary of new or unknown contacts saved under suspicious names.
