A 68-year-old man from Mitcham, London, has been found guilty of planning to travel abroad to sexually abuse children, some as young as six. Edward Gratwick was caught before he could board a flight to Bucharest, Romania, after a National Crime Agency (NCA) sting.
Secret Online Chats Reveal Sick Plot
The NCA received intelligence about Gratwick communicating with another paedophile online. The pair agreed to meet to abuse a nine-year-old girl and discussed using drugs like GHB to erase her memory.
"I'll bring enough GHB so you can have some fun when I'm not there," Gratwick messaged a contact, alongside images of banned chemicals found in his fridge.
After his arrest at Stansted Airport on 7 March 2025, officers searched his home and seized multiple devices. They uncovered thousands of encrypted messages where Gratwick shared vile sexual content and coordinated abuse with offenders globally.
'Pimping' Children and Drugging Victims
Gratwick was caught cold touting himself as a "pimp," offering to take a 25% cut for arranging abuse of young girls aged 6 to 10. He obsessively planned his crimes in gruesome detail, including choosing what victims should wear.
In chilling chat logs, he asked, "Do you have a time operated plug? One you can set to turn a light on and off?" Officers found such a device and a child's sleeveless top in his travel bag.
Staggering Evidence of Abuse
- Over 1,300 indecent images of children found on Gratwick's devices
- 632 classified as category A, the most severe level
- Messages arranged multiple child sex offences
- Pre-booked Airbnb in Bucharest tied to planned abuse
Gratwick was charged with 11 offences on 9 March 2025 and later faced 38 charges, including arranging child rape and distributing indecent images. On 10 October, he was found guilty and now awaits sentencing at Guildford Crown Court on 28 November.
The disturbing case shines a harsh light on online child abuse networks and the global fight to stop them.
