A man who had devices at his flat containing over a thousand indecent images of children and sent sexual messages to children has been jailed.
Asfandyar Saleem, 28 (08.10.95) from Lewisham was sentenced to 52 months imprisonment at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday, 28 November. He had previously pleaded guilty to 11 offences:
– one count of perverting the course of justice;
– three counts of making an indecent image of a child;
– six counts of attempted sexual communication with a child under the age of 16;
– one count of possession of extreme pornographic images.
On 10 February 2022 officers from officers from the Met’s Online Child Sex Abuse and Exploitation Team executed a search warrant at Saleem’s home address where he admitted to viewing indecent images of children. He was arrested, his devices were seized, and officers established after reviewing these that they contained indecent images of children. In total officers found he possessed 2,193 illegal images, including 431 Category A indecent images of children which depicted serious sexual offending.
Further to this, officers found Saleem had engaged in sexual conversations with children under the age of 16 on the “KIK” social messenger application where he would act as “sugar daddy” to children, paying them with gift cards for pictures of them undertaking sexual acts.
He was charged with these offences and attended Bromley Magistrates Court in January 2023.
Whilst awaiting trial he created a fraudulent LinkedIn online profile, pretending to be the investigating officer who investigated him. He then subsequently sent doctored images and messages purporting to be from this officer stating the evidence had been fabricated. He then forwarded these on to the Met in an attempt to disrupt the investigation.
An investigation found all the material had been doctored by Saleem to have the case against him dismissed.
A further search warrant on the 17 May was executed at his home address where he was located and arrested. A further device was found and when interrogated by the High-Tech Crime Unit was found to contain all the doctored images, messages, and the fake LinkedIn profile along with the Twitter account which he used to send the messages.
Saleem was charged by the CPS and remanded into custody. Due to the strength of evidence, he pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on 24 October.
Detective James Cronin of the OCSAE (Online Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation) team from Central Specialist Crime said: “Saleem is a convicted paedophile who preyed on children and launched a fraudulent campaign to have the case against him dismissed. This court result shows that Met officers will do everything possible to bring perpetrators to justice. “
Acting Superintendent Jo Lloyd, Specialist Crime, said: “Officers from this dedicated unit are working tirelessly to take predators off the streets. Should anyone have information regarding child sex abuse please do not hesitate to contact the police via 101. In an emergency, dial 999.”
