A SINGLE mum from Worcester has been jailed for seducing a 15-year-old boy during the Covid-19 pandemic, taking him into her bedroom for sex after grooming him on Facebook.

Nicola Holton put her head in her hands as she was jailed for four years at Worcester Crown Court yesterday following sex with the boy who broke down in tears, fearing he would be in trouble.

The mother-of-two  who worked in childcare,  contacted the boy on social media, asking for help with an online game her son was playing, inviting him to watch a film with her and attend a birthday party before kissing him, taking him to her bedroom and performing sex acts on him.
The 36-year-old widow of Willis Place, St John’s, Worcester admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child and one of sexual communication with a child between August 31 and October 10 last year.
She had also been sexually involved with a 17-year-old but the Crown did not pursue the allegation after his mother contacted police last October.
The 15-year-old gave his account to police on October 24 last year, saying she invited him to watch a film which he did, taking a friend with him ‘as he did not want to go on his own’.
Caroline Harris, prosecuting,said he climbed in through her window and ‘he recalled being pressured to kiss the defendant’, fearing that if he did not he would get ‘called out’ and she would make things ‘awkward’ for him.

“He said he wanted it to stop and then he would just be a normal child” she said.
Mrs Harris said Holton ‘put her hand inside his trousers’ and performed two sex acts on him with her hand and her mouth.
Holton also later sent him messages ‘suggesting she was pleasuring herself’. “Those messages were of a sexual nature” she said.
The victim said he removed those messages because he did not want to see them. On another occasion she again kissed him and used her hands to perform a sexual act.
“He felt he could not say anything about what happened because he was afraid he would get into trouble. He was asking the officer what his punishment might be for what had happened” said Mrs Harris.
She added: “It was noted by the officer that he was in tears at various stages, showing the distress that has been caused.”
Holton even told the boy ‘she could not wait until 2023 when he would be 18’ and that she had to keep on reminding herself ‘he was only 15’.
“He does recall feeling pressured to do as he did” said the prosecutor.
Holton made no reply when she was cautioned by police but the interview could not take place straight away because she was ‘distressed’, her solicitor telling officers ‘she wasn’t fit to be interviewed’ and ‘she was struggling to breathe and so on’. 
As a result the interview was postponed. When it took place Holton answered ‘no comment’ to questions. However, she did accept she had been aware of the boy’s age.
Mrs Harris said: “It was noted by the officer interviewing the defendant that she could not bring herself to say the boy’s name.”
The boy, who has lifelong anonymity, told officers he had wanted to sort it out and tell her: “I’m 15 and you’re 36 - this needs to stop now.”
In a victim personal statement from the boy’s mother she described how her son had struggled to sleep and had become reluctant to be seen out of the house and felt he would be looked at, questioned over what happened ‘and that he will be judged’.
“I noticed a real change in him. He was coming in from school and becoming immediately angry” said his mum. Initially she thought the change was down to hormones but that ‘he had turned into someone I did not recognise at all’.
The defendant had no previous convictions and had been of good character.  The psychological report identified an extensive history of depression and anxiety.
Fiona Elder, defending, said Holton and her husband had got together in their early teens while still at school and that relationship was ‘somewhat controlling’. Miss Elder said her client had been dependent on him but he had abused alcohol. They divorced and he died in 2018. 
“There’s an inability cope on her own” said Miss Elder who spoke of her client’s ‘social isolation, her personal vulnerability and her limited social skills’. 
Judge Nicolas Cartwright said: “You seduced him, kissing him, taking him into your bedroom in your flat then performing oral sex upon him.”
He told her that she then went on to ‘repeat the behaviour’, that the boy had been ‘conflicted’ after the first occasion and ‘sent messages initially saying he did not want your sexual attention’.
“You should have known a good deal better in any event given that you were working in childcare and have obtained a diploma. You were very well aware of how serious this offending was” he said.
He also noted ‘you have two boys of your own and you could have been under no illusions just how serious your actions were’.
Judge Cartwright also said she had not expressed ‘significant remorse’. He added: “Your sorrow was only for the fact you had found yourself remanded in custody. There was a good deal of victim blaming going on during the course of that interview.”
Holton can expect to serve half of the custodial sentence in custody and half on licence in the community. Her time spent on remand in HMP Eastwood Park will count towards the sentence.
An indefinite restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order were also made. 
The restraining order prevents her having contact, directly or indirectly, with the boy or from attending his address or any future address at which she knows or believes him to reside. 
The SHPO restricts her use of internet enabled devices, including contacting children online and prohibits unsupervised contact with any male child under 16 other than her own children.