A Nigerian man who committed sexual offences against girls under the age of 16 after grooming them on social media has been jailed.
Olubunmi Abolumo, 29 (22.4.88) unemployed of Central Parade, New Addington, was yesterday, Friday 14 July, sentenced to a total of 13 years’ imprisonment for sexual offences against a 15-year-old girl, making indecent images of children and voyeurism.
At a previous hearing at Croydon Crown Court on 17 February, Abolumo had pleaded guilty to 25 counts of making indecent images of a child, relating to five separate victims, and one count of voyeurism.
Following trial at Croydon Crown Court, Abolumo was convicted by jury on Friday 9 June of three counts of sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of two counts of rape against two separate victims.
Abolumo opened and ran a social media account where he portrayed himself to be a 19-year-old man.
Using this account, he befriended young girls and eventually invited them to his home where he had sexual activity with them. He recorded footage of the incidents using the webcam on his laptop.
At the time of the incidents, the victims were not aware that they had been recorded, Police.UK reports.
He was arrested on 21 August 2016 and was charged the following day. Since the day of arrest Abolumo has been remanded in custody.
It was during the investigation by the Met’s Child Sexual Exploitation Team that the videos were recovered and victims traced.
Detective Superintendent John Macdonald of the Met’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command said:
“Olubunmi Abolumo is a very dangerous offender. He targeted young girls on the internet, persuaded them to go to his address and then secretly videoed himself sexually assaulting them. He kept the footage on his laptop which was located after his arrest.
“The victims in this case bravely appeared in court to recount what had happened to them and they had to watch the footage Abolumo had recorded which must have been a terribly harrowing experience for them.
“It is my hope that today’s sentence brings a measure of comfort and satisfaction to the vulnerable young girls that he preyed upon.
“In the area of Child Sexual Exploitation this is exactly the type of offending that is causing us great concern at the moment. I have no doubt that there are other men doing the same thing and whose victims haven’t yet reported it to police.
“Children and parents need to be aware of this type of offending in order to make informed decisions on who is or isn’t safe to meet and what precautions should be taken to safeguard the child.
“Engaging with someone online is not the same as having met them, or knowing them. When a child meets someone they have only interacted with via the internet, they are essentially meeting a stranger and are oblivious to what that stranger may be planning. I encourage all parents to speak to their children about the risks associated with meeting internet acquaintances face to face.
“Research online will reveal many similar cases to this one and discussing cases like this with children will help them to understand the risk far more clearly than simply telling them not to meet people they don’t know.
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