Man who sexually abused boys via internet jailed

Nicholas Hatton, 34, has been jailed for 18 years

A man who sexually abused two boys from America over the internet has been jailed.

Nicholas Hatton, of West Street in Crewe, Cheshire, was given an 18-year prison sentence at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting multiple child sex offences.

His conviction came after victims told police they had been in contact with Hatton for several years and he had enticed them into engaging in online sexual activity.

One of the victims, aged 12 when Hatton started grooming him in 2014, said he was coerced into sexually abusing a two-year-old family member on camera, Cheshire Police said.

The force said the victim had since been convicted of rape and sexual assault in America and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The investigation into Hatton, 34, came after Cheshire Police were tipped off by a social media company in 2021.

'Sexual predator'

Following a raid of his Crewe home, officers found more than 12,000 indecent images of children, more than 750 indecent videos and 1,050 prohibited images.

Hatton was arrested in June 2022 and he denied knowing who the four children in the images were, but detectives later identified the two from America.

After speaking to the two victims, police charged Hatton and he pleaded guilty to the following offences:

• Six counts of causing/inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity

• Two counts of causing/inciting the sexual exploitation of a child aged 13-17

• One count of possession of indecent images of children

• Three counts of making indecent images of children (A, B, and C)

• Three counts of taking indecent images of children (A, B, C)

• One count of possession of prohibited images of children

Following his sentencing, Det Con Faye Taylor said Hatton was a sexual predator who preyed on vulnerable young boys with no regard for the effects of his actions.

“Due to the grooming that he suffered as a child, one of Hatton’s victims in America has been handed a lengthy prison sentence, while his family member suffered sustained sexual abuse,” she said.

“While none of the victims will ever be able to forget what happened to them, I hope that Hatton’s conviction and the sentence handed to him will provide them with some closure.”

Hatton was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.