A British sex predator based in Iraq approached children in Morocco

A British director of an international school in Iraq has been jailed for trying to sexually exploit children around the world using social media.

Nicholas Clayton, 38, was training in Iraqi Kurdistan when he contacted children aged 10 and over in several countries, including Morocco, asking them for intimate photographs.

National Crime Agency investigators identified Clayton as the culprit after a 13-year-old Cambodian boy was contacted by a man on Facebook Messenger who requested photos of his shirt.

He then arranged to pay for the boy’s trip to Malaysia so they could meet.

Clayton was arrested by NCA officers on his return to England. To mitigate the potential risk of repeat offending, NCA officers successfully obtained a sexual risks court order which banned him from traveling around the world while the investigation continued.

Investigators also obtained posts from social media sites that showed Clayton was in contact with hundreds of boys around the world, ranging in age from 10 to his late teens, over a three-month period.

Chats with victims were found in countries such as Morocco, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Iraq and Turkey.

Clayton appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on August 23, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16 and one count of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child.

He was jailed for 20 months and served 15 years on a sex abuse prevention order by Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday (September 20).

British police described Clayton’s behavior “Persistent, obnoxious and insidious”.

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