A man has been sentenced for child sexual offences after detectives spent countless hours trawling through thousands of inappropriate messages that were sent to underage children.
Saner Muharrem, 25 (13.09.98) of Homer Drive E14, was sentenced on Friday, 12 January to five and a half years imprisonment at Snaresbrook Crown Court after he was previously convicted of 11 offences following a two-week trial. The offences included inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual activity with a child.
Detectives launched an investigation into Muharrem on 20 October 2021 after intelligence indicated that he was uploading indecent images of children online.
Muharrem’s phone was seized by police during a search warrant at his home address.
Specialist officers analysed the phone data which brought to light that Muharrem had been contacting many underage girls through social media sites such as Snapchat and Instagram.
Further investigation led officers to find over 500 indecent images of children on his personal devices.
A Sexual Risk Order (SRO) was granted for Muharrem at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 23 November 2022.
Despite the order, he continued his predatory behaviour and he attempted to obtain more indecent images of girls under 16. He also tried to meet up with several young girls.
On one occasion the predator met with a 13-year-old girl, and kissed her without her consent.
PC Simon Marchant-Brown, who led the investigation, said: “Muharrem would befriend the girls on social media and act like he cared for them. He offered to give them money, alcohol and cannabis in order to convince them to send incident images of themselves.
“Today’s sentencing reflects the severity of his offences. He manipulated young girls and would even threaten to leak the images if they did not send more.
“I would like to praise the seven young victims who gave evidence in court; your bravery does not go unnoticed, without you we would not have been able to jail this predator.
“I urge anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse to come forward to the police, we are here to listen, help and support you. We will do everything in our power to find, arrest and convict anyone who has carried out any sexual offences.”
Muharrem appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 21 September 2023, where he was found guilty of 11 offences.
Muharrem also received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and restraining orders were put in place.
If you have ever been a victim of a sexual offence, please contact police on 999 as soon as possible to receive support.
