A Pakistani man posing as a famous YouTuber blackmailed hundreds of young girls around the globe into performing sexual acts on camera. He has been jailed for 17 years in Australia.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed pleaded guilty to 119 charges relating to 286 people from 20 countries, including the UK, the US, Japan and France. Notably, two-thirds of his victims were aged under 16.
A court in Australia heard the case in which 29-year-old Zain was found guilty of coercing the victims into a cycle of abuse by threatening to send explicit messages and images of them to their loved ones.
Australian authorities say it is “one of the worst sextortion cases” in their national history.
“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,” said Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner David McLean.
Judge Amanda Burrows said Rasheed’s offence was of such magnitude that, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), there was “no comparable case” in the country.
Zain-ul-Abideen used to pretend to be a 15-year-old American internet star and would strike up a conversation with his targets and then involve them in discussions related to sexual fantasies.
He would then threaten them to send their responses to friends and family unless they performed a series of escalating, “degrading” sex acts – which at times also included family pets and other children in their home.
The judge was told about Zain being involved in misogynistic “incel” communities online and on several occasions, had invited other people – in one case as many as 98 – to watch the distressing acts on a live stream.
Many of the children told him that they were experiencing suicidal thoughts. One of them sent images of self-harm, but Rasheed continued his blackmail despite the children’s “obvious distress” and “extreme fear”, the judge pointed out.
The accused was arrested after Australian authorities were contacted by Interpol and US investigators. He was then charged in 2020 after a police raid on his home.
Rasheed is already serving a five-year prison term for sexually abusing a 14-year-old twice in his car outside a Perth park.
The court heard he is engaged in a sex offender treatment programme, but Rasheed still carries a high risk of reoffending. The court also ruled that he will only be eligible to apply for parole in August 2033.
