A “predator” who posed as a teen social media star has been jailed for coercing hundreds of victims into degrading sex acts “in one of the worst sextortion cases in history”.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed pleaded guilty to 119 charges stemming from 550 incidents, in what police said was “one of the most horrific sextortion cases prosecuted in Australia”.
His 286 victims – who he exploited for his “sadistic pleasure” – were from 20 countries, including the UK. Almost two-thirds (180 victims) were children.
Rasheed, from Perth, Australia, reportedly claimed to be a YouTube star and police said he coerced his victims into providing “increasingly sexual and degrading videos”.
On several occasions, he invited other people – in one case as many 98 people – to watch the distressing acts on a livestream.
He did this by threatening to send explicit messages and images of victims to their loved ones.
One Canada-based victim told police she was just 13 when someone she thought was a 15-year-old social media celebrity contacted her online.
Instead, Rasheed asked her a series of sexually explicit questions before sending edited screenshots of the conversation that depicted the victim liking his sexual fantasies.
He then threatened to send these doctored images to her friends and family unless she complied with his demands.
Rasheed also communicated online with other child sex abusers, swapping sextortion strategies, as well as details of children who were susceptible to blackmail and abuse.
Victims were from the 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.
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Rasheed was charged in 2020 after collaboration between authorities in Australia and the US and Interpol.
He was sentenced to 17 years in jail and will be eligible to apply to parole in 2033.
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The Australian Federal Police said the “scale of the predatory and exploitative offending by the offender made it one of the worst sextortion cases in history”.
The force’s assistant commissioner David McLean said: “The callous disregard this man had for his victims around the world and their distress, humiliation and fear make it one of the most horrific sextortion cases prosecuted in Australia.
“This type of online exploitation and abuse is devastating and causes lifelong trauma.
“The predator, through his facade of being a social media celebrity, manipulated and exploited 286 children and young adults for his own sadistic pleasure. Most of these victims were in their own homes, a place where they should feel safe.”
