HAYDON VAN HENTEN AND HIS DISTURBING CRIMES IN LANARKSHIRE AND NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

A man who engaged in disturbing and illegal online behavior involving a young girl has avoided prison time despite the severity of his actions. Haydon van Henten, aged 19, initiated a predatory campaign against a 12-year-old girl after he randomly added her on Snapchat. The girl, who resides in Nottinghamshire, initially believed van Henten to be around her age, as he claimed to be 13. He then proceeded to request explicit photographs from her, which she understandably refused.

The situation escalated when van Henten sent a selfie, which raised suspicions about his claimed age, suggesting he might be older than he pretended to be. Despite this, he continued to press the girl for more explicit content, sending messages that included vile comments such as, 'if you were in my room, I want to s**g, you' and 'I wish you were in my room so we can Netflix and chill,' using slang that implied sexual activity. The young girl chose to ignore him initially, but her discomfort grew, and she later confided in her mother about the online harassment.

Horrified by her daughter's accounts, the mother confronted van Henten directly and subsequently contacted the police. Investigators traced his online activity to his residence in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. Van Henten was brought before Hamilton Sheriff Court where he admitted to criminal behavior, including sending sexual messages to the girl and possessing indecent images of children, with these offenses occurring between January and June of the previous year.

Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen sentenced van Henten to serve 250 hours of unpaid community work and imposed a two-year period of supervision. Additionally, he was placed on the sex offenders' register for two years. During police questioning, van Henten explained that he had been operating multiple accounts, including one under the name 'jameoconnor3820,' from which he claimed to have sent the messages. He stated, 'I've done stupid things in the past. I deleted messages and photos before you came,' but officers found that the incriminating images were stored on his phone. A thorough search revealed he had 16 images depicting disturbing abuse involving children.

Prosecutor Alice Carey outlined the case details, noting that the young girl was contacted via Snapchat from an account registered to 'Jameoconnor3820.' Early in the conversation, the girl disclosed her age as 12, to which the account purportedly responded that he was 13. As the exchanges progressed, the man with that account requested explicit photographs, which she refused. The conversation included a photo of the sender’s face with a bedroom in the background, leading the girl to believe the sender was older than 13, further intensifying her fear.

The girl’s mother, upon seeing the distressing messages, gathered screenshots of the conversation and handed them over to authorities. A subsequent investigation verified that the email address and IP linked to the Snapchat account belonged to van Henten. Sheriff MacFadyen commented on the case, stating, 'These are very serious offences,' emphasizing the gravity of the crimes committed by the accused in Lanarkshire and Nottinghamshire.