Teaching Assistant Sentenced for Sending Indecent Photo and Upskirting Teenage Pupil
A predatory teaching assistant has been jailed after sending an indecent photograph to a teenage girl and secretly taking an upskirt image of her while his wife was pregnant at home. Qazi Mohammed, who was 21 at the time of the offences in 2024, admitted causing a child to watch a sexual act and was found guilty of voyeurism following a trial at Bradford Crown Court.
Grooming Through Social Media
The court heard how Mohammed, who worked at a school in Bradford, Yorkshire, took the girl's phone and added his username to her SnapChat account. He then began messaging the vulnerable teenager, sending her an explicit photograph of himself alongside a message stating "me and you are secret" accompanied by a heart emoji.
Prosecutor Ella Embleton-Brown detailed how Mohammed subsequently took a photograph of the girl's crotch area and underwear without her knowledge or consent. The victim was reportedly upset when she later discovered he had sent her that image and confronted him about the inappropriate behaviour.
Exploitation of Position and Power
In a victim personal statement, the complainant explained that Mohammed had deliberately chosen to take advantage of her when she was at her most vulnerable. She emphasised that he had abused his position of trust and authority within the school environment for his own selfish sexual gratification.
Mohammed, now 23 with no previous convictions, was arrested in 2024 but provided no comment responses during police questioning about the allegations. The full details of his offending and the specific school involved cannot be disclosed to protect the identity of the victim.
Sentencing and Risk Assessment
The Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Rose, sentenced Mohammed to 16 months imprisonment for the offences. Mohammed must also register as a sex offender with police for the next decade and comply with the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Judge Rose agreed with a probation assessment that Mohammed posed a high risk of serious harm to children. He determined that adding himself to the complainant's SnapChat account formed part of a deliberate scheme to groom her for sexual purposes, while the upskirting photograph was taken for Mohammed's own sexual gratification without the girl's knowledge.
Defence barrister Deborah Smithies presented references suggesting the offending was "out of character" and surprising. Mohammed told a probation officer that the crimes occurred during a period when he was "struggling in the workplace," but Judge Rose emphasised this did not excuse the predatory behaviour toward a vulnerable pupil.
