A ‘fairly prolific’ child sex fantasist will be sentenced next month.

Abm Uddin, 38, befriended what he supposed were children online, steering the topic of conversation around to sex.

But the ‘girls’ with whom he thought he was talking were, in fact, decoy accounts operated by adults.

Appearing before Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (February 9), Uddin, of Westbourne Road, Islington, pleaded guilty to seven counts of attempted sexual communication with children and one charge of attempting to incite a 14-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. The offences were committed in Henley in the summer of 2021.

His barrister, Christopher Pembridge, described offending as ‘fairly prolific’. Unlike in other similar cases, however, no explicit images were sent by his client or requested of the ‘girls’. Uddin had no previous convictions.

Judge Ian Pringle KC ordered a pre-sentence report from the probation service and bailed the defendant to return to court on March 9.

Charles Ward-Jackson represented the Crown Prosecution Service during the short hearing on Thursday, appearing in court via video link.

The maximum sentence for the offences to which Uddin has pleaded guilty carry a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment. However, in cases involving 'decoy' social media accounts judges have been advised to reduce the penalty to account for the fact no real child was involved.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

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