A man has been jailed after what police described as their largest ever investigation into online child sexual abuse. Bilal Kazi, 27, targeted young and vulnerable girls over platforms including Snapchat, Roblox and Wink.
Police said that for many of the victims, their interactions with him were 'their first experience of what they believed to be a romantic relationship'. Kazi exploited their vulnerability for his own sexual gratification.
180 potential victims identified
Cheshire Police said its officers identified 180 potential victims through usernames and other data recovered from devices he used. As a result, a total of 70 victims aged between 11 and 17 at the time were identified across 28 of the UK's 45 police forces. Each one was subsequently visited by police.
Speaking after a sentencing hearing on Friday at Chester Crown Court, police said Kazi posed as a white British teenage boy called 'Reece' after contacting the girls, and used photographs of an unidentified boy to depict himself.
The force said he would 'quickly groom' the victims into believing they were in a genuine relationship with him before requesting explicit images and videos from them.
Manipulation and threats
A Cheshire Police spokesperson said: "He manipulated the young girls into believing that sharing such content was a normal part of being in a relationship. His demands would soon escalate, with victims being pressured into recording themselves performing sexual acts."
"When victims refused to comply, Kazi would threaten to share the images and videos they had already sent him. These threats left victims feeling frightened and intimidated, and some continued to engage with him out of fear."
The investigation was taken over by Cheshire Constabulary's Online Child Abuse Investigation Team after one of Kazi's victims reported the abuse she had suffered to the police.
She told of speaking with him over Snapchat when she was 13, and said conversations quickly turned 'sexual in nature', police said. The girl told police he requested naked images and videos from her, but when she told Kazi she only wanted to be friends, he threatened to distribute photos and videos she had previously shared with him to her friends unless she obeyed his demands.
Arrest and sentencing
The force spokesperson added: "Fearing Kazi's threats, the victim felt compelled to continue sending him explicit images and videos. Shortly afterwards, the victim's Snapchat account was hacked and the content she had shared with Kazi was sent to her friends. She subsequently reported Kazi."
The force said it emerged at the time that Kazi had left the country. He was arrested on his return to the UK at Heathrow Airport and interviewed. His mobile phone was also seized, with analysis revealing the scale of his crimes and the many victims.
The force said that in some cases, Kazi maintained contact with his victims for more than a year.
Kazi, of Hubert Croft, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to 37 charges of child sexual offences. He was jailed for 30 years and issued a lifelong sexual harm prevention order and lifelong restraining order and will be barred from working with children.
Judge Steven Everett described him as "a sexual predator who preyed on girls" and did "terrible things". He added that "we will never know how many victims fell prey to your deviant behaviour".
Kazi will have to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Georgia Hughes called the police investigation 'truly mammoth'. "There is a misconception that online offences have less impact on victims than crimes committed in person, but that could not be further from the truth," she said.
"The girls targeted by Kazi were young and vulnerable. For many, their interactions with him were their first experience of what they believed to be a romantic relationship. Exploiting that trust, Kazi manipulated them into believing that his behaviour was normal."
"His offending has had a profound and lasting impact on the victims. Many lived in constant fear of what he would do if they failed to comply with his demands, and some have carried that fear with them for years. I hope today's result provides the victims with a sense of closure."
Detective Sergeant Ross Peel added: "Our message to parents is to speak to your children and take an interest in the apps and platforms they are using. The potential for online offending is vast, and offenders can target children from anywhere in the world."
"By educating yourselves and your children about online safety and the risks associated with communicating with people they do not know online, you can help protect them from becoming victims of crime - the impact of which can be profound and long-lasting."
