286 women pretending to be teenage YouTubers…

An Australian court has sentenced 29-year-old Muhammad Zain Ul Abidin Rashid to 17 years in prison for posing as a teenage YouTuber and blackmailing 286 women into making sexually explicit videos of them.

Australian resident Muhammad Zain Ul Abidin Rashid approached women in Australia and abroad on social media pretending to be a 15-year-old YouTuber with a large following. Rashid first gained the trust of his victims by sending them images of other famous influencers and chatting with them. As his trust grew, Rashid asked the women to send him sexual images or videos. Rashid even threatened to send screenshots to his friends if the victims did not send more explicit images by giving them a countdown timer. According to Judge Amanda Barrows of the District Court for the State of Washington in Australia, Rashid saved the videos he received from his victims and at one point live streamed them to 98 adults.

Rashid continued a series of blackmail attacks on 286 women, including those in the UK, US and France. 180 of the victims were girls under the age of 16. Rashid was arrested in 2020 and was subsequently charged in 2021 after victim identification. It is said that among the 286 victims of 665 incidents, some committed suicide due to extreme fear or excessive pain caused by Rashid. The Australian Federal Police reported that some victims sent Rashid images of their own self-harm, but Rashid’s demands did not stop.

In his ruling, the judge noted that Rashid’s crimes were abusive to women’s dignity and that live-streaming the content to other pedophiles made matters worse. The court also judged that Rashid was at high risk of reoffending, as he had previously been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl twice. Rashid could be eligible for parole as early as 2033.

During the trial, the judge told Rashid that the victim would live forever in fear that the images or videos he sent her would be further disseminated. Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner David McLean said his horrific actions and his disregard for the victim’s obvious pain, humiliation and fear had led to one of the most horrific cases of sexual exploitation ever prosecuted in Australia and that the victim would be traumatised for the rest of her life. Related content HereYou can check it at .