Sunday June 21, 2026
London (AX) — A London court has jailed Waleed Saeed for 16 years after finding he used more than 100 fake social media accounts to blackmail and sexually exploit young men, including teenagers.
Saeed, 31, a British-born man of Somali descent, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court after being convicted of 17 offences, among them rape, attempted rape, blackmail, threats to disclose intimate images and making indecent images of children.
Police said the investigation was the largest “sextortion” case of its kind handled by the lead officer.
Jurors heard that Saeed posed as other people on Snapchat, Instagram and Grindr to obtain intimate photos from men and boys as young as 15, many of whom privately identified as gay or bisexual.
He then threatened to reveal those images to their families and friends unless they sent him money, prosecutors said.
When victims were unable to pay, Saeed tried to pressure them into meeting him face to face, where he sexually assaulted them, the court heard.
In March, Saeed admitted nine offences relating to four victims, including two counts of threatening to share intimate images, two counts of blackmail and two counts of making indecent images of a child.
A jury later convicted him of eight further charges, including rape, attempted rape and blackmail.
Detective Constable Peter Collington, who led the Metropolitan Police inquiry, said he hoped other victims would now feel able to come forward.
“I am making a direct appeal to other victim-survivors who may not have had the confidence to come forward,” Collington told the BBC. “We want to treat you with compassion, with sensitivity and with absolute confidentiality. What has been done to you is wrong, and we will do everything in our power to support you.”
Police said Saeed’s offending stretched back to 2018 but only came to light in August 2024 after an 18-year-old reported being raped in a London park.
The victim told officers he had exchanged intimate images with someone he believed was a transgender woman. Police later identified that person as Saeed.
Not long after, the victim received threatening messages from another account run by Saeed, who exposed his identity and demanded payment in return for not sharing the images.
When the victim could not pay, Saeed is said to have coerced him into meeting late at night in a London park on three separate occasions, where he sexually assaulted and raped him while wearing a face covering to hide his identity, the court heard.
Forensic evidence taken from the victim’s phone led police to arrest Saeed and seize two mobile phones holding intimate images of other victims, some of whom are believed to be children.
Police said Saeed used usernames including “Trans Girl Leah,” “amzyyyy09” and “ComeDeal” to target victims in London and elsewhere in the UK.
Investigators later uncovered a series of complaints dating back to 2018, which they said pointed to a “sinister pattern of offending.”
Passing sentence, Judge HHJ Greene said Saeed had preyed on the vulnerability of young men who feared exposure because of cultural and family pressures.
“You took advantage of the fact that cultural issues made them particularly vulnerable to the threat of exposure,” the judge said.
The court heard that one victim, a university student, said he could not confide in his family because of their strict cultural views. In a victim impact statement, he said he had suffered anxiety and remained worried that the intimate images could still be shared.
Detectives are urging any other victims, or anyone with information about possible victims, to contact police. The Metropolitan Police said victims’ identities would be protected and their privacy respected, and that they would not have to tell family or friends if they did not want to.
