A paedophile who boasted of a 25-year career of child abuse, and revealed he had befriended a mother to gain access to her five-year-old daughter, has been jailed. Craig Henton, 54, used encrypted messaging apps to discuss his twisted desires with hundreds of fellow sexual deviants, including his plan to abuse the little girl. Henton’s phone showed he had participated in hundreds of chats with users regarding the sexual abuse of children and discussed meeting up with them and their children so he could commit abuse.

He also claimed to have sexually assaulted a child in the past, when she was aged between three and five. This child was identified and safeguarded by the National Crime Agency (NCA). The monster was arrested in April 2024 as part of an NCA investigation after information was received that a user of an encrypted messaging app had stated he had imminent plans to commit sexual offences against the five-year-old.

Investigators tracked the user to Henton’s address and searches of his devices found he had also shared a category C indecent image of the girl.

A total of 4,570 indecent images and videos were found on a device seized from Henton, including 918 in category A, the most serious featuring sickening rape and torture of children.

In chats spanning February to May 2024, Henton told users he had been a paedophile for 25 years and that he had befriended a vulnerable mother to gain access to her daughter and groom her with the intention of sexually abusing her.

Henton was arrested again in May and June 2024 on suspicion of assault of a girl under 13 and arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

He made no comment to any questions at interview but was charged with 18 offences.

Further indecent images of children were recovered from another device seized from Henton in April 2024 totalling almost 1,400 images.

Henton pleaded guilty to all offences at Swansea Crown Court in October 2025.

He was sentenced at the same court on Tuesday where he received a 21 year prison sentence, a further six years on licence, and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He will spend his lifetime on the Sex Offender Register and his victims were granted indefinite restraining orders against him.

Operations Manager, Danielle Pownall, from the NCA, said: “Craig Henton is a predatory and dangerous paedophile who abused a young child and expressed his willingness to meet up with others to carry out further abuse to satisfy his depraved sexual gratification.

“He joined chat groups set up purely to enable and justify the sexual abuse of children. He was open about being a paedophile for 25 years and his intention to target vulnerable women so he could abuse their children.

“The NCA will continue in our work with partners in the UK and internationally to protect children from vile abusers like Henton.”