JAILED: The disgusting Derbyshire hospital worker who took 83,603 sick pictures of little girls

A Derbyshire pervert took more than 83,000 photographs of pre-pubescent girls who lived near him for his own sexual gratification.
Nathan Hodkin.Nathan Hodkin.
Nathan Hodkin.

Despicable Nathan Hodkin placed his mobile phone camera on a pair of binoculars so he could focus in on the victims, typically aged four to ten, playing naked or partially-clothed.

The 27-year-old hospital worker then filed them on his computer or mobile phone, even putting one of them in a folder he named 'my cutie'.

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Hodkin's reign of perversion only came to light when he was spotted hiding and taking pictures of a four-year-old girl who alerted her mother and was chased and caught by the girl's father.

When police arrested him, he told officers: "You will find loads of photographs of children on my computer."

Jailing him for 20 months at Derby Crown Court, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: "You took in excess of 83,000 photographs of young girls who, although not known to you, lived in your locality.

"Of those, more than 1,000 were of an indecent nature including them playing naked or partially clothed and you even kept a file for one of them called 'my cutie'.

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"This has caused immense distress to the girls and their parents who are concerned for their children and that their privacy was invaded by you.

"This is concerning as it went on for three years, there were a vast amount of photographs found.

"The sheer scale of this offending is concerning to me."

Mark Knowles, prosecuting, said the offending came to light in July last year when a four-year-old victim told her mum she was being photographed.

He said: "She went to her mum to say someone had been taking pictures of her.

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"Her mother could see the defendant with a phone in his hand.

"She shouted for help and her partner went after the defendant and held him with others while the police were called.

"The police arrived and he said to them, 'you will find lots of pictures of children on my computer and phone'."

Mr Knowles said analysis of Hodkins' electronic devices unearthed 83,603 photographs of seven young girls, 1,106 of which were indecent, category C images which included naked pictures of them.

He said each was in a separate file under their names.

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A further 5,558 indecent images, also category C, had been downloaded from the internet.

Hodkin lived in Derbyshire at the time of the offences but his last known address was in Rectory Avenue, Gainsborough.

The pervert pleaded guilty to eight counts of producing indecent images of children between 2013 and 2016.

Dan Chutch, mitigating, said: "He worked for nine years in a hospital and has now lost that employment as a result of these offences.

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"He had a difficult childhood, he was physically-abused by his step-father.

"He has no experience of sex at all and he is socially-isolated - his social network is his mother.

"There is no evidence that the defendant in any way distributed or shared these images to anyone else."

A number of the victim's parents were in court to see Hodkin sentenced and were praised for their dignity by Judge Shant.

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We have chosen not to say where in Derbyshire the offending took place to protect the identities of the victims.

Following the case, an NSPCC spokesman said: "Hodkin is every parent’s worst nightmare and has been rightly jailed for his sick actions.

"It beggars belief that he built up such a vast catalogue of indecent photographs and images.

"He is a danger to children so it is crucial he now undergoes treatment as part of his sentence to lessen the risk he poses on his release.

"Anyone concerned about a child can call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000, while children and young people can contact Childline free and confidentially on 0800 1111 or via www.childline.org.uk."

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