A sex predator who targeted young men online before blackmailing and sexually abusing them has been jailed for 16 years. Waleed Saeed, 31, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of a string of offences against five victims, including rape, blackmail, and making indecent images of children.
Predator's Methods
The Metropolitan Police said Saeed, of Azalea Close, Ilford, used Snapchat to pose as a young woman or transgender woman before persuading victims to send intimate images. He would then reveal his true identity and threaten to expose the men to their families, friends, workplaces, universities, and communities unless they paid him money or complied with his demands.
Lead investigator Detective Constable Peter Collington said Saeed deliberately targeted young Muslim and South Asian men because he believed they would be less likely to report him to police. He stated: 'We know Saeed began offending in 2018, deliberately targeting young men from South Asian and Muslim backgrounds on the impression that these victim-survivors would be less likely to contact police.'
Investigation and Arrest
The investigation began in August 2024 after a man reported being raped in a London park. The victim told officers he had exchanged sexual images with someone he believed was a transgender woman before receiving threats from another account. Saeed allegedly demanded money and, when the victim said he could not pay, coerced him into meeting in person. Police said the victim was sexually assaulted and raped during three late-night meetings in a London park, with Saeed concealing his identity behind a face covering.
Officers spent months tracing the social media accounts before arresting Saeed in November 2024. Mobile phones seized during the investigation contained intimate images linked to additional unidentified victims, some believed to be children. Further enquiries uncovered reports dating back to 2018 across London and other parts of the UK, revealing a pattern of offending in which Saeed posed as a young woman or transgender woman before exploiting victims through threats of exposure.
Conviction and Sentence
On March 2 this year, Saeed pleaded guilty to a number of offences involving four victims. A jury later found him guilty of further charges relating to a fifth victim, including four counts of rape, attempted rape, causing a male to engage in penetrative sexual activity, blackmail, and threatening to share intimate images. Alongside the 16-year prison sentence, Saeed was handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Appeal for Further Victims
Police said Saeed used Snapchat usernames including variations of 'blsup' and 'ComeDeal', while also operating accounts posing as a transgender woman under names such as 'Trans Girl Leah' and 'amzyyyy09'. Detectives are appealing for anyone who recognises the usernames or believes they may have been targeted by Saeed to contact police on 101 quoting 5335/18JUNE2026.
DC Collington added: 'We want to be absolutely clear that no one should ever have their sexuality exploited or weaponised against them in this way. You will be treated with compassion, sensitivity and absolute confidentiality. What has been done to you is wrong, and we will do everything in our power to support you.'
