Westhoughton man wanted schoolboys to stand on his genitals

Over a period of several months Nathan Hilton messaged two boys, aged 13 and 14, repeatedly asking them to take part in his fettish.

But he was caught after messages on one of the boys’ phones was seen by his mother, who reported the matter to police.

Appearing at Bolton Crown Court Hilton, aged 27, of Church Lane, Westhoughton, was sentenced after admitting two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting, told the court how Hilton’s offending took place between February 2017 and March 2018 when he was aged 21 and 22.

“These offences came to light when a complainant was experimenting with e-cigarettes,” said Mr Hayhoe.

“His mother discovered messages on his phone between the defendant and him.”

The teenager said he and another friend, at first, would exchange trainers with Hilton in return for e-cigarettes.

“He didn’t believe it was going to lead to the sexual behaviour exhibited by Mr Hilton,” said Mr Hayhoe.

The schoolboy travelled by train to meet Hilton at weekends and early evenings and Hilton took trainers from him, claiming he would sell them on eBay and, in return, handed over an e-cigarettes.

“Of course, the child wouldn’t have been able to purchase one,” said Mr Hayhoe.

“This was a form of grooming which was trying to endear the defendant to the child. The defendant was willing to incur the train fares and purchase the e-cigarette for, what effectively was, a pair of trainers with little or no value.”

A year later the boy requested more e-cigarettes from Hilton and when the teenager changed his mind about handing over his trainers, Hilton offered him a “different type of deal”.

The teenager was asked to “stand” on Hilton’s genitals for 10 minutes in return for a bottle of vaping liquid.

The boy was reluctant but Hilton told him several others had already done it, including a friend of his.

Hilton repeatedly made the same request but the boy had not carried out the act when his mother discovered the messages.

“She was also aware of a friend of her son who was being given e-cigarettes by the defendant in exchange for him being kicked in the genital area by him,” said Mr Hayhoe.

The other boy was also interviewed by police about Hilton.

“He thought he was, in his words, a wierdo, a lot older than him and seemed to be fixated upon his footwear,” said Mr Hayhoe.

When questioned by police Hilton admitted the second boy had performed the ‘stand’ on him in return for an e-cigarette. The court heard that there is no evidence that Hilton removed clothing.

In a victim statement read out in court the first boy stated that Hilton needs to be kept away from children.

He said: “I thought I was street smart but in reality, I was groomed by this man and taken advantage of, along with my friend.”

Hilton has no previous convictions. Martin Pizzey, defending, stressed that he has not offended since and, at the time, his autism had not been diagnosed.

“The defendant clearly did wrong and might not quite have appreciated that, whilst in a position of some confusion as to his own understanding of himself,” he said.

“There is no further suggestion or hint of any other inappropriate behaviour.”

Recorder Nigel Grundy told Hilton that, if he were jailed immediately, it would only be for a relatively short time and not long enough for work to be done to address his behaviour.

“You would come out and be no better off than when you went in,” the judge told him.

Instead he sentenced Hilton to a three-year community order which includes 25 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of rehabilitation activities.

Hilton was also placed on the sex offenders’ register and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years.