Snapchat rapist jailed after targeting more than 40 children

A man from Greater Manchester has been jailed for 14 years after pleading guilty to 49 charges connected to an online grooming and blackmail campaign that investigators described as among the most horrific cases they have faced. Stuart Latham, 22, from Wigan, posed online as a 14-year-old boy and targeted more than 40 children worldwide, including dozens in the United Kingdom and the United States. Prosecutors said he coerced victims to send increasingly explicit images by offering money or gifts and by threatening to expose them to relatives if they did not comply, a pattern that stretched across 2023 and 2024 and involved 41 identified victims in the UK and US, with eight others not identified.

Police said Latham built the operation from his bedroom at his parents’ house and treated it as a full-time job. Detectives found more than 4,000 indecent images on his phone, most of which were created after coercion or manipulation of the girls. The scale of the activity and the fear it caused led investigators to describe the case as one of the most horrific they had ever dealt with.

Latham’s initial arrest in 2023 followed a report by a 12-year-old girl who said she had been raped by him after he pretended to be a 15-year-old boy to meet her. Authorities traced the Snapchat account used to target young girls to a phone number linked to Latham. Det Sgt Simon France, who led Greater Manchester Police’s online child abuse investigation, described Latham as “one of the most dangerous” offenders he had ever dealt with and said the offender preyed on the fear and vulnerability of his victims, using his perceived power to extract often horrific images.

In court, the two girls who were abused in person watched the sentencing from the public gallery, sometimes holding hands as statements described Latham as disgusting. Judge Philip Parry told him that he was a highly dangerous predator with little empathy or remorse and warned that the victims had shown resilience in moving forward. Latham was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and will remain on licence for eight years after his sentence expires. Det Con Emma Murtagh of GMP’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team said the case was among the most horrific she had investigated and emphasized how easily individuals can be drawn into exploiting children online. The proceedings underscored the ongoing risk to children from online predators and the need for continued vigilance, reporting, and safeguarding.

The case illustrates the challenges police face in tracing and dismantling online grooming networks that operate across borders. While the majority of the victims identified were in the United Kingdom, investigators confirmed that the offender’s reach extended internationally, reflecting how digital platforms can enable predatory behavior to occur with relative ease. Authorities urged parents and guardians to monitor online activity and to report suspected grooming or blackmail immediately to authorities. The sentencing sends a message that online exploitation of children will be pursued aggressively by law enforcement and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The case’s conclusion marks a significant step in the city’s and the region’s ongoing efforts to disrupt online sexual exploitation and to support survivors. It also highlights the importance of cross-jurisdictional cooperation, since victims and evidence can be distributed across multiple countries through digital networks. The police force and regional prosecutors said they would continue to pursue offenders who prey on children online and encourage anyone with information about similar activity to come forward.