Craig Henton sentenced to 21 years for child sexual abuse

Craig Henton, 54, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison followed by six years on licence after pleading guilty to 18 offences at Swansea Crown Court. The charges included the sexual assault of a child under 13 and arranging child sex offences.

The investigation was launched by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in April 2024 after reports surfaced that a user on an encrypted messaging app was planning to abuse a five-year-old girl. Investigators traced the account to Henton’s address. Upon searching his devices, authorities recovered thousands of indecent images and videos of children, including 918 category A images on one device and nearly 1,400 on another.

Evidence from Henton’s chats between February and May 2024 revealed he claimed to have been a paedophile for 25 years and discussed meeting other users to abuse children. He also admitted to past assaults on a child aged between three and five; that victim has since been identified and safeguarded. In addition to his prison term, Henton was issued an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.