A man has been jailed in what has been described as one of the worst cases of sextortion in history, after posing as a teenager with a social media reputation and forcing more than 250 victims, including 180 children, to perform sexually explicit acts on camera.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed, 29, from Perth has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for extorting 286 victims.
He was sentenced in Perth District Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 119 charges in December last year.
The charges are based on more than 550 incidents over an 11-month period.
In imposing the sentence, the judge also took into account three additional charges, covering a total of 108 behavioral incidents.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner David McLean called the case one of the worst cases of sextortion in history.
The AFP worked with the US Homeland Security Investigations and Interpol to investigate reports that an Australian man was sexually abusing girls via social media.
AFP officers in Western Australia worked with police in several countries to identify victims and check on their welfare.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed (right) will spend 17 years behind bars
The Western Australia Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET), including officers from the AFP and WA Police, launched an investigation in September 2019.
WA JACET discovered that Rasheed used multiple social media accounts to target victims.
Rasheed contacted young women who had a visible friends list on social media and attempted to befriend them, then manipulated them into sending him explicit content.
He then blackmailed them into making increasingly sexual and degrading videos, threatening to send previously explicit content to their families and friends.
A Canadian victim told police she was 13 years old when someone she mistook for a 15-year-old social media celebrity contacted her online.
But it was Rasheed who asked her explicit sexual questions before sending edited screenshots of the conversation, showing the victim indulging his sexual fantasies.
Rasheed then threatened to send the manipulated images to her friends and family if she did not comply with his demands for sexually explicit videos.
Sometimes he forced victims to perform sexual acts on camera, once allowing nearly 100 other people to watch.
He also spoke to other child abusers online, sharing sextortion strategies and providing details of children who were susceptible to blackmail and abuse.
The AFP first charged Rasheed when he was 25 years old, in September 2020, and filed further charges in 2021.
Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed pleaded guilty to 119 charges in December last year
Since September 2019, the AFP and Commonwealth prosecutors have been reviewing the man’s online chat records, videos and photographs.
AFP investigators worked with international law enforcement partners to identify the victims and the extent of the sexual exploitation and abuse.
Because multiple young women were targeted at the same time, police had to sort through thousands of spammy text messages from the social media accounts to ensure all offenses could be identified.
According to McLean, the AFP assistant commissioner, Rasheed’s appalling actions and his callous disregard for the visible misery, humiliation and fear of his victims make him one of the most horrific cases of sextortion ever prosecuted in Australia.
“This kind of online exploitation and abuse is devastating and causes lifelong trauma,” he said.
‘The predator manipulated and exploited 286 children and young adults for his own sadistic pleasure, posing as a celebrity on social media.
‘Most of the victims were at home, a place where they should feel safe.
‘Sextortion can escalate within minutes.
‘We encourage parents and caregivers to talk to their children regularly about their online activities so they feel comfortable asking for help if needed.
“We also want to remind people never to share personal information with people they have only met online.”
Rasheed posed as a teenager known on social media to coerce his victims, including 180 children,
Ernest Verina, attaché with Homeland Security Investigations, said HSI remains steadfast in its mission to protect victims of child exploitation.
“HSI will always stand with Australia on a global scale to hold to account those who commit these horrific crimes against our children,” he said.
The man exploited and abused victims from 20 countries, including Australia, the US, the UK, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Guam, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, South Africa, Spain and the Netherlands.