BLACKBURN MAN BAHMAN ALBET CAUGHT IN ONLINE SEXUAL PREDATION SCHEME IN CLEVELAND
In a disturbing case that highlights the dangers of online grooming and exploitation, Bahman Albet, a 30-year-old man originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, was apprehended after engaging in a series of heinous online activities targeting underage children.The incident unfolded when Cleveland Police officers, conducting an undercover operation, posed as a schoolgirl on social media platforms, including Facebook, to catch predators attempting to exploit minors.
According to court proceedings at Teesside Crown Court, Albet initiated contact with what he believed to be vulnerable children, using a false identity under the alias Tony Mantana.
Over the course of their online interactions, he bombarded three young victims—two girls aged 15 and 13, and a 13-year-old boy—with overtly sexual messages, revealing a disturbing pattern of predatory behavior.
The court heard that within just one day of communication, Albet's messages escalated from innocent exchanges to explicit content, including images of his genitals, offers of money in exchange for sex, and persistent proposals to meet in a hotel for sexual activity.
The investigation revealed that Albet’s phone contained a trove of incriminating evidence, including similar conversations with two other minors.
His online activities also included disturbing fantasies involving the children’s parents, which he expressed during his exchanges.
When his victims did not respond as he desired, Albet became aggressive and intimidating, threatening to send explicit images to their friends and family or to cause damage to their homes.
One particularly alarming incident involved a 15-year-old girl from Blackburn, who sent him a photograph of her breasts after he repeatedly requested images.
When she refused to comply further, Albet threatened to distribute the photo among her peers and family members, attempting to coerce her into submission.
Additionally, he invited a 13-year-old girl from London to meet him in a hotel for sex, and suggested similar arrangements to a 13-year-old boy who had already been subjected to online grooming.
Further investigation uncovered that Albet possessed 21 indecent images of children aged between 12 and 15, stored on his device.
His criminal activities spanned from October to December of the previous year, during which he admitted to 13 separate offences.
These included causing a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to do so, inciting a child to watch sexual acts, facilitating child exploitation, attempting to arrange or facilitate child sex offences, possessing extreme pornographic material, making indecent photographs of children, distributing such images, and harassment.
During the court hearing, Albet’s defense lawyer, Andrew Coleman, argued that his client had never physically met any of the victims and claimed there was no intent to do so.
Coleman also stated that Albet exhibited remorse and shame for his actions, which he attributed to a temporary state of mental distress.
He explained that Albet was suffering from an adjustment disorder, compounded by an addiction to amphetamines and alcohol, which led him to lose touch with reality.
It was also noted that Albet, an asylum seeker from Iran who was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, had started a family here.
Judge Tony Briggs, presiding over the case, acknowledged the seriousness of Albet’s crimes but also recognized his apparent remorse.
The judge emphasized that prison was inevitable given the nature of the offences but took into account the defendant’s remorseful attitude.
As a result, Albet was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
Additionally, he was issued an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, which prohibits him from contacting anyone under the age of 16 and restricts his access to the internet and social media platforms.
Furthermore, Albet will be registered as a sex offender for the next ten years.
It was also noted that he denied possessing a so-called “paedophile manual,” which was left unprosecuted and remains on the court record.
