A HEADTEACHER who was jailed after grooming at least 131 children worldwide using social media previously worked at a school in Furness.

Nicholas Clayton, 38, from The Wirral, used Facebook Messenger to contact children as young as 10, asking for photos and attempting to sexually abuse them.

Clayton had been working as principal of an international school in the Kurdistan region of Iraq while he targeted victims from multiple countries over social media.

He abused his position of trust as a headteacher by attempting to sexually contact and exploit children, using technology to access hundreds of potential victims across the globe.

Between September 2008 and August 2009, Clayton was employed as a teacher at Dowdales School in Dalton, the school has confirmed.

Emma Aubrey, headteacher at Dowdales School, said the criminal proceedings do not relate to any conduct on Clayton’s part while employed at Dowdales School, and is urging anyone with concerns to contact the school.

She said: “Dowdales School has been made aware of recent criminal proceedings leading to the imprisonment of an ex-member of staff, Mr Clayton.

“Mr Clayton was employed at Dowdales School from September 2008 to August 2009 as a teacher. 

“The criminal proceedings do not relate to any conduct on Mr Clayton’s part whilst at Dowdales School. 

“The school works with all relevant authorities including the local authority and police to ensure that safeguarding procedures are strictly adhered to. 

“Anyone wishing to raise concerns of such a nature should contact the school’s designated safeguarding lead, Lisa Massicks, in the first instance.”

Clayton was caught after asking a 13-year-old boy from Cambodia for photos of his naked upper torso and arranging to pay for the child to travel to Malaysia so they could meet.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) received intelligence about the communication and arrested him when he returned to the UK.

Investigators then found Clayton had been messaging hundreds of boys from across the globe, spanning the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey and others over a period of just three months.

Clayton appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on August 23 where he admitted three counts of sexual communication with a child under 16 years and one charge of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child.

He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday to 20 months’ imprisonment and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 15 years.

Hazel Stewart, from the NCA, said: “Nicholas Clayton abused his position of trust as a headteacher by attempting to sexually contact and exploit children, using technology to access hundreds of potential victims across the globe.

“Clayton was very cautious and careful in his communications, making them appear to be innocent, but as NCA investigators we could see the patterns of predatory grooming he was using on vulnerable children.

“Protecting children from sex offenders is a priority for the NCA, and we continue to pursue criminals in the UK and internationally to ensure abusers like Clayton are held to account.”