A 34-year-old man who used Snapchat to contact teenage girls has been jailed after our detectives exposed his online crimes.
Belal Hussain first contacted a 15-year-old girl via the app in June last year and met up with her in his car in West Bromwich.
Hussain saw the girl again, along with another 15-year-old girl, later that month and pressured both into sexual activity with him before giving them money.
The girls recalled their traumatic experiences, including feeling pressured and scared by Hussain, to specialist officers in our Public Protection Unit who were able to investigate Hussain. This included checks on Hussain’s Snapchat account to identify him and arrested him in September.
We seized his electronic devices as evidence for court, but he didn’t co-operate during interviews and refused to provide passwords for any of his phones or devices. Despite this, officers continued with the investigation and charged him.
Hussain, of Jesson Street, West Bromwich pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for three years and six months at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday (30 June).
He was also given a sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender register for life.
Investigating officer PC Adrian Jackson, from our Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “This horrific exploitation and grooming of two teenage girls has had a devastating effect, with one of the girl’s attempting to take her own life.
“I’m relieved that she pulled through and even had the strength to speak out against the man who assaulted her, but I know the lifelong impact his actions will have had.
“We supported the girls throughout the investigation, along with partner agencies, including The Horizons Unit of Sandwell Children’s Trust.
“It was down to their courage in coming forward that we were able to convict Hussain and we hope this will provide some sense of justice following their traumatic ordeals.”