American teenager is sentenced to 50 years in jail for raping a toddler after he was groomed online by predatory British pedophile 4,500miles away who has also been sentenced to 18 years after social media company tipped off police
An 18-year-old Arkansas man will serve 50 years in prison for raping a toddler after being groomed online by a predatory pedophile living 4,500 miles away.
Nicholas Hatton, from Crewe, England, forced the teenager to sexually assault a two-year-old on camera after grooming him from the age of 12, Britain’s Chester Crown Court heard.
The teenager, one of Hatton’s four victims, confessed to the attack and was later convicted of rape and sexual assault. He was sentenced in Howard County Circuit Court on February 8 this year, police told DailyMail.com.
Hatton, 34, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Great Britain on Tuesday. He previously pleaded guilty to a litany of sexual offenses after being found with a collection of more than 12,000 child abuse images.
In addition to his prison sentence, Hatton was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
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Nicholas Hatton, 34, (pictured) of Crewe, England, was sentenced to 18 years on Tuesday for his role in grooming an Arkansas teenager and forcing him to rape a two-year-old child on camera
The teenager, one of Hatton’s four victims, confessed to the attack and was later convicted of rape and sexual assault. . He was sentenced in Howard County Circuit Court on February 8 this year, police told DailyMail.com
Chester Crown Court heard the Arkansas teenager was one of Hatton’s four victims. Detectives were able to identify two of them, both of whom were based in America.
The investigation into Hatton was launched in 2021 when officers from Cheshire Police received information from a social media company relating to his online activities.
A warrant was served at his home in Crewe where a number of electronic devices were seized and sent for analysis.
During an examination of the devices, officers found more than 12,000 indecent images of children and 750 indecent videos, as well as 1,050 prohibited images.
Following the discovery, Hatton was arrested again in June 2022.
During questioning, he denied any knowledge of who the children in the images were.
He was subsequently released on conditional bail. It was at this point that a victim identification officer from Cheshire Police identified the two US-based victims.
Hatton was subsequently charged and later pleaded guilty to all crimes.
He was charged in six cases with causing or inciting a boy under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity; two counts of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child aged 13 to 17 and one count of possession of indecent images of children.
Hatton also pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children, three charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of possessing prohibited images of children.
Following his sentencing, Detective Inspector Faye Taylor, of Cheshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: ‘This has been a complex and lengthy investigation which has ultimately exposed Hatton’s despicable behaviour.
Chester Crown Court (pictured) heard the Arkansas teenager, who had been in contact with Hatton for several years from 2014, told officers he had been forced to sexually assault the two-year-old on camera
“Throughout the investigation it was clear that Hatton is a sexual predator who preys on vulnerable young boys with no regard for the impact his actions would have on the victims or their families.
‘Because of the care he received as a child, one of Hatton’s victims received a long prison sentence in America, while [the toddler] has suffered persistent sexual abuse.
“While none of the victims will ever be able to forget what happened to them, I hope that Hatton’s conviction and the sentence imposed on him will provide them with some closure.
‘I also hope that Hatton’s conviction will remind us that there are no boundaries when it comes to sexual abuse, that it can happen anywhere, anytime and that the impact can be life-changing.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Howard County Circuit Court for more information.