Teenager 'groomed' as rent boy for paedophile trade

DETAILS of a sordid trade in teenage rent boys were exposed yesterday after two men were jailed for their role in a harrowing case of child trafficking.

One, Nathan Eyre, spent two years carefully grooming his victim and putting him to work as a male prostitute before cashing in on his "investment."

He sold the 14-year-old to Raymond Hawthorne, the national leader of a British paedophile ring.

But the boy, who would drug himself to ease the pain of being abused by his "customers", was rescued after his mother reported him missing. Eyre, 38, of Leeds, latched on to the boy while he was still living at home, plying him with drink and drugs, alienating him from his family and brainwashing him into believing that what he was going through was somehow normal.

Eyre was sentenced earlier this week at Leeds Crown Court to a total of eight years for living off the earnings of a male prostitute and for conspiring to sell the young victim to Hawthorne.

Hawthorne, 40, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to abduction, indecency with a child, conspiring to live off the earnings of a male prostitute and conspiring to commit indecent assaults. He was jailed for seven years on Tuesday. Leslie Loram, 50, of Rochdale - "one of Hawthorne's best customers" - was jailed for three-and-a-half years after admitting two counts of buggery and one of indecent assault on the 14-year-old boy.

Sentencing Eyre, Judge Justice Holland said: "As to grooming, the evidence disclosed amounts to a campaign designed to alienate (the victim) from his family, from his school and from all who cared for his welfare, so as to bring him under your power.

"You encouraged him to disobey his family and rules, encouraged truancy from school, plying him with alcohol to excess, plying him with cigarettes, plying him with drugs and providing what have been described as sweeteners, such as shooting and driving, to put (the victim) in your power.

"Getting a return on your investment by putting children to work as prostitutes was what mattered to you."

Prosecuting, Neil Davey QC said the young victim "serviced so many clients in so many parts of the country and in so many different ways it became impossible for him to remember how many men he had serviced or in what circumstances.

"It all just blurred into one week-long episode of sexual abuse."

West Yorkshire Police Child and Public Protection Unit launched an investigation after the boy's mother reported him missing on October 25 last year.

In mitigation, the court heard all three men had pleaded guilty and had no previous convictions for sexual offences. All three were disqualified from working with children.