A 29-year-old man from Watford has been sentenced to over 11 years in jail after being found guilty of sexual offenses against children.

Mohammed Sahinur was arrested by Hertfordshire Constabulary in June 2022 as a result of an operation targeting individuals who were exploiting vulnerable children through social media.

Sahinur had been specifically targeting girls as young as 11 since 2021, coercing them into sending explicit photos of themselves and using threats to ensure compliance. Upon his arrest, all of Sahinur’s electronic devices were seized, leading to the identification of additional victims and the discovery of further offenses.

He faced a total of 15 charges, including sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, sexual assault of a child under 13, and rape of a child under 13.

Sexual communication with a child.
Eight offences of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Four offences of causing a child to watch a sexual act.
Sexual assault of a child under 13.
Rape of a child under 13.

Following his trial at St Albans Crown Court from January 30, 2023, to February 3, 2023, Sahinur was found guilty of all charges.

On Friday, November 3, he returned to St Albans Crown Court for sentencing, where he received a custodial sentence of 11 years and 6 months.

Detective Sergeant Jim Miller from the Child Online Safeguarding Team said: “Not only did Sahinur groom vulnerable young girls via social media, he also met up with one victim so he could physically abuse her as well.

“To make sure these young girls continued to supply him with indecent images he threatened them, telling them he would tell other family members or share the images further. This behaviour has had a very detrimental impact on the mental wellbeing being of these young girls.

“We will continue to track down perpetrators like Sahinur and would encourage anyone who has been a victim of similar behaviour to get in touch. We can help you and you will be fully supported by specially trained officers.”

The COST team can be contacted by going online, speaking to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat or by calling 101 (opens in a new window).