A man in Australia who was involved in the online sexual exploitation of hundreds of young women and girls had at least one Irish victim, a senior Australian police officer has said.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed (29), from Perth, targeted females as young as 10 years old, got them to perform sexual acts, and then threatened to share footage and images of them unless they continued to co-operate with him. On occasion he live-streamed the online abuse, sharing it with others.
Assistant Commissioner David McLean, of the Australian Federal Police Organised Crime and Cyber unit, said the case, which has just ended in Perth with Rasheed being jailed for 17 years, involved one Irish victim.
The predator’s 286 known victims came from UK, the US, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Namibia, North Macedonia, Panama, South Africa, Brazil, Israel and Guam, according to reports.
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Speaking to RTÉ, Mr McLean said it could not be said with certainty that there was only one Irish victim.
“The investigation is ongoing in some respects, but for present purposes, the case which was closed today with the sentencing, there was one victim in Ireland.”
The Australian police officer expressed his thanks to An Garda Síochána for their co-operation during the case, which began five years ago when the police in Australia were contacted by their counterparts in Israel and Canada, after a victim in each of those countries raised the alarm.
Rasheed targeted his victims by pretending he was a social media influencer and befriending them online, but would then “lure them into increasingly sordid and sexualised conversations”.
On occasion he edited material to make it appear they had engaged in sexual behaviour and then used this material to blackmail them.
In handing down her sentence, the Perth judge, Judge Amanda Burrows, noted that in some instances Rasheed continued to bully and coerce the children despite their obvious distress and fear, with some telling him they were suicidal.
Rasheed, who will not be due for parole until 2033, was sentenced for 665 offences, which occurred over an 11-month period and involved 286 victims.
The court heard that Rasheed, whose parents had moved to Australia from Pakistan, had grown up feeling socially isolated and began engaging online with misogynistic “incel” communities that promoted the view that women were inferior and owed men sex.
Mr McLean said it was important that parents and guardians had open lines of communication with adolescents and young adults.
[ Crime Victims Helpline: Rise in ‘sextortion’ victims seeking help since 2021Opens in new window ]
“If you know someone who thinks they might be a victim of sextortion, some practical, fundamental and essential first steps are to stop online conversations. Take screenshots of the conversations that have taken place. Block the accounts that you might be engaging with, and report it to the platform that you’re on.”
Parents needed to take an active role in monitoring young people’s access to social media platforms, he said.
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