Nicholas Clayton, 38, from The Wirral, used Facebook Messenger to contact children as young as 10, asking for pictures and trying to sexually abuse them. The case has sparked fresh calls for a “robust” internet safety bill, with the NSPCC warning plans by Facebook-owned Meta to introduce end-to-end encryption will “blindfold” authorities to similar predators. Clayton was working as an international school principal in the Kurdistan region of Iraq while targeting victims from multiple countries via social media. Clayton was arrested after he asked a 13-year-old Cambodian boy for topless photos and arranged to pay for the boy to travel to Malaysia to meet. The National Crime Agency received information about the communication and arrested him when he returned to the UK. Investigators then found that Clayton had been texting hundreds of boys from around the world, in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey and others in just three months. Clayton appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on August 23 where he admitted three counts of having sexual intercourse with a child under 16 and one count of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child. He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday to 20 months in prison and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years. In the wake of the case, the NSPCC raised concerns that Meta, which owns Facebook, plans to introduce end-to-end encryption on its messaging platform. Andy Burrows, head of online child safety policy at the charity, said: “Clayton’s case highlights the ease with which offenders can contact large numbers of children on social media with the aim of grooming and sexually abuse them. “Private messages are the front line of child sexual abuse online. Therefore, it is concerning that Meta plans to continue end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger, which will bind themselves and law enforcement from tracking down criminals like Clayton. “The UK Government can show global leadership in tackling online child abuse by delivering without delay a strong internet safety bill that embeds child protection at the heart of every social media site.” New culture secretary Michelle Donnellan previously said there were no plans to downgrade proposals for new internet safety laws, which Mr Barrows hailed as “really encouraging”. Hazel Stewart, from the NCA, said: “Nicholas Clayton abused his position of trust as a director, attempting to sexually assault and exploit children, using technology to gain access to hundreds of potential victims around the world. “Clayton was very careful and careful in his communications, making them appear innocent, but as NCA investigators we could see the patterns of aggressive grooming he used on vulnerable children. “Protecting children from sex offenders is a priority for the NCA and we continue to pursue criminals in the UK and internationally to ensure that perpetrators like Clayton are held to account.” A Facebook spokesperson said: “We have zero tolerance for child exploitation on our platforms and we build strong safety measures into our designs. “We focus on preventing harm by banning suspicious profiles, defaulting under-18s to private or ‘friends-only’ accounts, and more recently introduced restrictions to prevent adults from messaging children they are not connected to. “We also encourage people to report harmful messages to us so we can look at the content, respond quickly and make referrals to the authorities. As we have this technology, we take our time to get it right and work with external experts to help keep people safe online.”
