A 29-year-old Australian man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for one of the worst sexual abuse cases in the country’s history. According to reports, Muhammad Zainul Abidin Rasheed blackmailed hundreds of girls online, many of them minors, and forced them to perform obscene acts. BBC,
Rashid would pose as a popular teenager on social media to lure his victims. He would build trust with them and then blackmail them by threatening to reveal their personal information. Despite his victims’ distress and pleas for help, Rashid continued his harmful actions.
Rashid inspired over 250 victims around the world to perform explicit acts on camera.
The Australian Federal Police and the Western Australia Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team conducted a joint investigation resulting in the arrest of Rashid.
“This man’s utter disregard for his victims around the world, and the distress, humiliation and fear they suffered, makes this one of the most horrific sexual assault cases ever prosecuted in Australia,” Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner David McLean said.
While sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Amanda Burrows said Rashid’s crime was so grave that there was “no comparable case” in the country, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Rashid pretended to be a 15-year-old American internet star. He would initiate conversations with his targets and later engage them in discussions about sexual fantasies.
According to the BBC report, Rashid threatened victims that if they did not perform “degrading” sexual acts, he would send their reactions to their friends and family members – which sometimes included family pets and other children in his home.
The Western Australia Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET) first launched an investigation into Rashid’s activities in September 2019.
Several children told him they were thinking of committing suicide – in one incident even sending him pictures of themselves being harmed. But the judge said he continued to blackmail them despite their “obvious distress” and “extreme fear”.
He has been convicted of multiple charges, including sexual assault. He will be eligible to petition for parole in August 2033.
