A paedophile from Sutton who raped and assaulted seven young boys over a period of more than 40 years has been convicted of rape and sexual assault.

Nigel Clayton, 72, sexually abused his victims between the 1970s up until 2017.

His offending took place in and around the Croydon and Sutton boroughs. His youngest victim was aged around 11 years old when the abuse began.

Following a trial lasting five weeks at Croydon Crown Court which concluded today (May 21), Clayton was convicted of 31 counts of sexual abuse including multiple incidents of rape, buggery, sexual assault, indecent assault and assault by penetration.

Clayton got to know his young victims by offering them the chance to carry out odd jobs for pocket money. He would target those who had difficult family circumstances and often boys whose biological fathers would be absent from their lives.

In some instances he took naked photos of his victims and told them they could be models.

Read more: Former Great Ormond Street Hospital porter sexually abused boys for 35 years

The case has been heard at Croydon Crown Court

The case has been heard at Croydon Crown Court

Nijole O’Brien, from the CPS, said: “Nigel Clayton pretended to be a harmless family man who wanted to help young boys in the area. In truth his intentions were much darker. He was a predator who used gifts, debts, threats and on occasion physical force to groom and sexually abuse his victims.

“He consistently told young boys he was a doctor or doing child development courses so he could examine them. At other times he said he could help them with a modelling career. But these were all lies to justify his sickening actions.

“When arrested and interviewed Clayton claimed that the allegations were untrue and that he had been impotent for 20 years. However, during the trial when the victims – many of whom were unknown to one another – attended court to tell their story and speak out against their abuser, the jury convicted Clayton.

“I would like to pay tribute to these brave men whose testimony helped to secure these convictions. Nigel Clayton will now be held accountable for his actions and I hope this will be a comfort to his victims.

“Sexual offences are some of the most complex cases to prosecute. The CPS will always aim to bring offenders to justice where there is the evidence to do so.”