18-year-old Arkansas man sentenced to 50 years for raping toddler after being groomed by UK pedophile online

The Brit, 34-year-old Nicholas Hatten, is also facing jail time in connection with the rape following an investigation by local police that uncovered other grooming victims and a slew of child sexual abuse material.

According to the Cheshire Constabulary, the grooming began in 2014 when the Arkansas resident was just 12 years old and got more extreme as the years passed. He admitted that he was eventually "coerced into sexually abusing a two-year-old family member on camera."

The teen was convicted of rape and sexual assault, and sentenced to 50 years in prison by a judge at Howard County Circuit Court in Fayette.

Police discovered three other victims, but were only able to identify one, also a boy in the United States.

"It was apparent throughout the investigation that Hatton is a sexual predator who preyed on vulnerable young boys and had no regard for the effects his actions would have on the victims or their families," Cheshire Police Child Abuse Investigation Team Detective Constable Faye Taylor said. "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."

The investigation into Hatton began in 2021 before child abuse material was discovered on his electronic devices. He was arrested in 2022, but released on conditional bail.

Hatton was eventually charged with 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 ages 13-17, one count of possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images of children, three counts of taking indecent images of children, and one count of possession of prohibited images of children.

He pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on April 16 to 18 years in prison.