Szuhel Lee, 53, from Salford, has been jailed for 27 months after he was caught again by an undercover police officer attempting to sexually abuse a child. He had previously been imprisoned in Florida in 2013 for 10 years for travelling to the US to have sex with a child.
Undercover operation
Manchester Crown Court heard that Lee was arrested after communicating with an undercover police officer who said he had a child with whom Lee wanted to have sex. Lee travelled to the US with the 'purpose of engaging in sexual activity with that child'. He was released in 2022 and less than a year later, he was back online speaking to another undercover officer.
Prosecutor Eleanor Brambell said that on August 12 last year, Lee began using a porn website where he spoke to the undercover officer working as part of Operation Xcalibur. Lee gave them his username for chat site Telegram, where the conversation continued. 'On September 5, the defendant was asked about the sexual abuse of [the undercover cop]'s granddaughter. He said he wanted to speak to the 'granddaughter',' Ms Brambell said. 'He spoke to the 'granddaughter' and asked her to describe the sexual abuse.' One of the messages Lee sent to the 'girl' read: 'Do you s*** his d***?'
Indecent images found
Lee was arrested in October 2025 and his home and devices were searched. They revealed a large number of indecent images of children, most of which were 'inaccessible'. These included 121 category A images and videos of children aged between four and six years old, 135 category B images and videos of children aged between 0 and 12 months, and 1,109 category C images of children aged between six and eight. He was also found with seven images of extreme pornography depicting bestiality.
The court heard Lee had one similar previous conviction dating back to 2013, in which he travelled to Orlando, Florida, to meet a child for sex.
Defence and sentencing
Clare Ashcroft, defending, said whilst in an American jail, he was offered no offence-related courses. 'He has never been given the opportunity to engage with the probation service and to address what is a sexual interest in children,' she said. 'He was left alone when he came back to the UK. He is a somewhat isolated individual, as a result of his previous convictions he has little contact with his siblings. Some of the behaviour of going onto the internet and communicating with other people he considered like-minded, shows he may have been misguided and overwhelmingly criminal.' She added: 'He has taken responsibility. He had little in the way of support. He felt very alone and didn't know what to do. He is somebody who is a bit of a loner.'
Jailing Lee, of Roberts Street, Recorder Alexandra Simmonds said: 'The similarity between the previous case and this one demonstrates a continued sexual interest in children on your part, and a perseverance to continue that behaviour not withstanding the length of sentence.' He was also made subject of the Sex Offenders Register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.
