OXFORD MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ONLINE CHILD SEX OFFENCES

A ‘fairly prolific’ child sex fantasist named Abm Uddin, aged 38, has been involved in online conversations with what he believed were minors, steering the discussions towards sex. However, the girls he thought he was talking to were actually decoy accounts operated by adults. Uddin appeared before Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (February 9) and pleaded guilty to seven counts of attempted sexual communication with children and one charge of attempting to incite a 14-year-old to engage in sexual activity. These offences took place in Henley during the summer of 2021.

His barrister, Christopher Pembridge, described Uddin's offending as 'fairly prolific'. Notably, no explicit images were sent or requested in these communications. Uddin has no previous convictions. The judge, Ian Pringle KC, ordered a pre-sentence report from the probation service and granted bail for the defendant to return to court on March 9. The maximum sentence for the offences he admitted carries up to 14 years in prison, though judges are advised to reduce penalties in cases involving social media 'decoy' accounts where no real child was involved. The case was prosecuted by Charles Ward-Jackson via video link.