A predator who posed as a famous teenage YouTuber to blackmail hundreds of girls into performing sex acts on camera has been jailed in “one of the worst sextortion cases” in history.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed was jailed for 17 years in Australia after he pleaded guilty to 119 charges, relating to 286 people from 20 countries, including the UK.
Two-thirds of his victims were aged under 16, BBC Sydney reports.
A Perth court reportedly heard the 29-year-old threatened to send explicit messages and images of his victims to their loved ones.
Australian authorities have described the crimes as "one of the worst sextortion cases" in history.
Australian Federal Police 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."
Judge Amanda Burrows said there was “no comparable case” as she handed down her sentence on Tuesday, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
Rasheed would pretend to be a 15-year-old American internet star and would strike up conversations with his targets, before moving the conversation towards sexual fantasies.
He then threatened to send their responses to friends and family unless they performed a series of escalating, "degrading" sex acts.
At times this reportedly included family pets and other children in their home.
The court heard Rasheed has been involved in misogynistic incel communities and would invite other people to watch the distressing acts on a livestream.
In one case as many as 98 people had been invited to watch a livestream.
Many of the children being extorted told him they were suicidal and one even sent images of self-harm.
But Rasheed continued to blackmail his victims despite their “obvious distress” and “extreme fear,” the judge said..
He was caught after US investigators and Interpol contacted Australian authorities.
He was charged after a police raid at is home.
Rasheed is already serving a five-year prison term for sexually abusing a 14-year-old twice in his car at a Perth park.
The court heard he was engaged in a sex offenders treatment program but Rasheed still represented a high risk of reoffending. He will be eligible to apply for parole in August 2033.
