Shaun Hatfield 49

Description

A ‘depraved’ man who engaged in sexual communication with who he believed to be a 12-year-old girl over a period of 31 days has been sentenced following an appearance at Hull Crown Court on Friday, 3 October 2025.

Shaun Hatfield, 49-years-old, of Easthorpe in Market Weighton pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity between Wednesday, 29 March 2023 and Wednesday, 26 April 2023. He has been sentenced to one year and four months in prison and handed a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

An investigation was launched on Wednesday 29 March 2023 when Hatfield started using messaging apps to initiate contact with a social media profile he believed belonged to a 12-year-old girl.

Over the next 31 days, Hatfield sent a series of sexually explicit messages and attempted to encourage the recipient to engage in sexual communications in return. He also sent numerous indecent photographs and sexual videos of himself.

Unbeknownst to him, the profile was a decoy account operated by an undercover officer, set up to identify and intercept individuals attempting to exploit children online.

With the support of specialist teams, further enquiries were carried out, including analysis of digital data. The information gathered was directly linked to Hatfield and officers subsequently located and arrested him on suspicion of sexual communication with a child in December 2023. His mobile phone was seized upon his arrest.

Whilst he was being taken to custody for interview, a search of his property led to further electronic devices being seized, and along with his mobile phone, the devices were examined by our Digital Forensics Unit in an effort to uncover the social media conversations he was having with a child.

After a lengthy and protracted investigation, consisting of multiple strands of enquiries being made by our detectives, Hatfield was later charged in August this year with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, and was remanded into custody until his next appearance at Hull Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to both offences.

Leading the investigation was Detective Constable Demi Harvey from our Police Online Investigations Team, who said:

“Hatfield is a depraved individual who sought to exploit who he believed to be a vulnerable child and engaged in calculated online conversations to appease his own perverse sexual gratifications.

“Thankfully no child was harmed as Hatfield was talking to a decoy social media account, and I am pleased he is now behind bars and facing the consequences of his disturbing behaviour.

“I’d like to commend the dedication and professionalism of our undercover officers, whose efforts play a vital role in protecting children and bringing offenders to justice.

“We take reports of sexual offences extremely seriously and we will continue to do everything we can to bring offenders before the courts.’’