WARNING: This story incorporates particulars that readers might discover distressing
A predator who impersonated a well-known teenage YouTuber and blackmailed tons of of ladies around the globe into performing intercourse acts on digital camera has been jailed for 17 years in Australia.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed admitted 119 fees involving 286 folks from 20 nations together with the UK, the US, Japan and France. Two-thirds of the victims are beneath 16 years outdated.
A Perth court docket heard the 29-year-old threatened to ship specific messages and images to family members, forcing them into an more and more excessive cycle of abuse.
Australian authorities referred to as this “one of the crucial severe instances of intercourse blackmail in historical past.”
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner David McLean stated: “This man’s callous disregard for his victims around the globe, and their ache, humiliation and concern, makes it probably the most horrific case of sextortion ever prosecuted in Australia. one.
“This kind of on-line exploitation and abuse is devastating and might trigger lifelong trauma.”
In line with the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), Choose Amanda Burrows stated when handing down the sentence on Tuesday that Rashid’s crimes had been so severe that there was “no comparable case” within the nation.
Rasheed pretended to be a 15-year-old American web star, initiated conversations along with his targets, after which engaged them in discussions about their sexual fantasies.
He threatened to ship their responses to family and friends except they engaged in an escalating collection of “degrading” sexual acts – generally involving the household pet and different youngsters within the house.
The court docket heard that Rashid had been concerned within the misogynist on-line group “Non-Singles” and had repeatedly invited others – together with 98 folks on one event – to observe reside broadcasts of the distressing behaviour.
Lots of the youngsters who had been blackmailed informed him they had been suicidal, and one even despatched images of self-mutilation. The choose stated Rashid continued the extortion regardless of their “apparent misery” and “excessive concern,” ABC reported.
He was captured after Interpol and US investigators contacted Australian authorities and charged following a police raid on his house in 2020.
Rashid is at the moment serving a five-year sentence for twice sexually abusing a 14-year-old youngster in a Perth park.
The court docket heard he was attending a intercourse offender remedy program however Rashid remained at excessive danger of re-offending. He can be eligible for parole in August 2033.
