A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl and exploiting dozens of other children in one of the UK's largest online child sexual abuse investigations. Stuart Latham admitted 49 offences relating to at least 41 victims, with police saying he may have targeted hundreds of girls.
Latham posed as a 14-year-old boy named Josh on Snapchat and other social media, sending hundreds of messages to young girls. He quickly steered conversations towards sexual images, sometimes offering money, and threatened to leak pictures if victims refused. The court heard he bought sex toys and erotic outfits for the 12-year-old victim, whom he believed was 15 when he was 19.
Teachers alerted police after becoming aware of the relationship. Latham was arrested in December 2023 but continued abusing the girl while on bail, telling officers he thought he could not be in a worse situation. More than 4,000 indecent images were found on his devices, including over 1,000 category A images.
Judge Philip Parry described Latham as a 'highly dangerous individual' and a 'predatory sex offender with little to no remorse'. Detective Sergeant Simon France of Greater Manchester Police called him 'one of the most dangerous offenders' he had encountered in 14 years, and urged social media companies to implement stricter age verification.
