Snapchat predator jailed for more than seven years over child sex offences

Kasey Fitton, a 20-year-old child sex offender who targeted young girls on Snapchat, has been jailed for seven and a half years after admitting to more than 40 offences against children. Fitton, of no fixed abode, committed the offences between May 2024 and August 2025, when he was aged 18 and 19. He pleaded guilty to a catalogue of charges at Bradford Crown Court, including sexual activity with a child and attempting to communicate sexually with a child. The court also heard that Fitton caused a child to watch a sexual act, made and distributed indecent images, possessed prohibited images of children, and possessed extreme pornographic images. Prosecutor John Batchelor said Fitton was arrested in February 2025 after investigations by West Yorkshire Police, West Mercia Police and Lancashire Police. Officers seized 19 electronic devices and found more than 2,000 indecent images of children. The court heard that Fitton contacted young girls through Snapchat. In one case, the mother of a victim pretended to be her daughter's friend online, after which Fitton sent her unsolicited images of himself performing a sexual act. In a statement read to the court, the mother described Fitton as a 'predator' who had preyed on the 'vulnerability and innocence' of children. Fitton's barrister, Laura McBride, said her client understood the seriousness of his crimes and knew he was facing a lengthy prison sentence. She said he had lived an 'insular and lonely life', had turned to alcohol and spent much of his time online. Judge Sophie McKone described Fitton as a dangerous and 'manipulative groomer'. She said his offending had been planned over more than a year and that he appeared unable to control his sexual urges. 'You cannot control your sexual urges and that makes you dangerous,' the judge told him. Fitton was sentenced to seven and a half years in a young offender institution, followed by a five-year extended licence. He will remain on the sex offenders register for life and was also given a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. West Yorkshire Police said their investigation was continuing and urged anyone who had interacted with the Snapchat accounts Kaseyfitton23, Kaseyfitton24 or MyCroft110 to come forward. (BBC News)