Online sexual predator jailed for 30 years

An Indian student who used the internet to groom and exploit 70 girls from across the UK has been jailed for at least 30 years with eight years on licence.

Bilal Kazi, 27, who was studying in the UK, posed as a white British teenage boy called "Reece" on Snapchat, Roblox, and Wink, police said.

He led his victims - aged between 11 and 17 - to believe they were in a genuine relationship with him, then lured them into sending explicit images and videos of themselves.

He then demanded they send more, threatening to share what he already received if they didn't.

These threats left victims feeling frightened and intimidated, and some continued to engage with him out of fear, police said.

The sexual predator's campaign of abuse spanned from August 2021 to August 2025.

Kazi, from Mumbai, was doing a PhD in Chester and then transferred to the University of Birmingham, studying chemistry.

He was detained following an investigation involving 28 of the UK's 45 police forces, and officers believe there could be as many as 180 victims.

Kazi pleaded guilty to 37 sex offences and was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Friday.

His offending came to light after one of his victims reported the abuse she had suffered to Derbyshire Police in November 2021.

She made her report after her Snapchat account was hacked and the content she had shared with Kazi was sent to her friends.

The investigation was taken over by officers from Cheshire Constabulary's Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) in May 2022 after enquiries established that Kazi's last known address was in Chester.

Kazi, who had left the country, was arrested on his return to the UK at Heathrow Airport in July 2023 and was interviewed in relation to the allegations made by the first victim.

More from Sky News:
British Airways plane strikes runway with its tail
PM promises EU deal 'more like the Brexit people voted for'

His mobile phone was subsequently seized and examined by the force's digital forensics unit who uncovered evidence of what investigators believed to be the largest network of offending ever encountered by OCAIT.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Georgia Hughes, of the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: "The scale of Kazi's offending meant this was a truly mammoth investigation, requiring significant resources and close collaboration across the force."

She continued: "The girls targeted by Kazi were young and vulnerable. For many, their interactions with him were their first experience of what they believed to be a romantic relationship.

"Exploiting that trust, Kazi manipulated them into believing that his behaviour was normal.

"His offending has had a profound and lasting impact on the victims. Many lived in constant fear of what he would do if they failed to comply with his demands, and some have carried that fear with them for years.

"What should have been important formative years have instead been overshadowed by the trauma of Kazi's abuse.

"I hope today's result provides the victims with a sense of closure now that Kazi has been held accountable for his actions, and I hope it allows them to move forward with their lives knowing that he can no longer cause harm to anyone else."

(c) Sky News 2026: Online sexual predator jailed for 30 years