A “dangerous predator” has been jailed for more than 30 years after pleading guilty to 37 charges of child sexual offences.Bilal Kazi, of Hubert Croft, Birmingham, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday, November 13 after an investigation identified 70 victims aged between 10 and 17.The 27-year-old from India was studying in Britain at the University of Chester when he groomed the young girls online.Sentencing him to 30 years, Judge Steven Everett described him as “a sexual predator who preyed on girls” and did “terrible things”.Officers said Kazi used a consistent method to target his victims, posing as a white British teenage boy called ‘Reece’.He used photos of an unidentified boy, and would groom the victims into believing they were in a genuine relationship.Once he had gained their trust, Kazi would begin requesting explicit images and videos, manipulating the young girls into believing that sharing such content was a normal part of a relationship.When victims refused to comply, he would threaten to share the images and videos they had already sent.After one of his victims reported the abuse she suffered to Derbyshire Police in November 2021, officers from Cheshire Police took over the case in May 2022.The victim explained that she began speaking to Kazi on Snapchat when she was 13, believing him to the the same age as her.His behaviour escalated and he began requesting naked images and videos from the victim.Bilal Kazi, of Hubert Croft, Birmingham, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday, November 13. Credit: ITV NewsIn July 2021, the victim told Kazi that she only wanted to be friends and he became abusive and threatened to distribute her explicit photos and videos.Shortly after, the victim’s Snapchat account was hacked and the content she had shared with Kazi was sent to her friends.She reported him to Derbyshire Police in November 2021.The case was then transferred to Cheshire Police after enquiries established that his last known address was in Chester, but it was later understood that he had left the country.He was arrested on his return to the UK at Heathrow Airport in July 2023 and was interviewed in relation to the allegations made by the first victim.Kazi, at the time living in Hubert Croft, Birmingham, while studying for a master’s in chemical engineering, was on bail while police continued to investigate – but continued targeting teenage girls in the same way.His phone was seized, and officers identified 180 potential victims. After an investigation, 70 victims, aged between 11 and 17 at the time of Kazi’s offending, were identified across 28 of the UK’s 45 police forces.After an investigation, 70 victims, aged between 11 and 17 at the time of Kazi’s offending, were identified. Credit: ITV NewsKazi was finally rearrested and remanded into custody in August 2025 and police found hundreds of category A child sex abuse videos involving teenage girls, along with 9,000 messages exchanged with one girl alone in the space of three weeks.Kazi was charged with 39 offences between August 2021 and August 2025, and he plead guilty to 37 of the charges, with two being left on file.The charges include causing a child aged 13-15 to engage in penetrative sexual activity, blackmail, and making indecent images of children.Judge Everett said that “we will never know how many victims fell prey to your deviant behaviour”.In a victim impact statement, one girl told the court that videos she sent to “Reece” were shared around her school and her “whole world fell apart”.She said: “I was young and I didn’t know any better. I became a joke overnight, like I had done something wrong. I was just a kid.”The girl lost all her friends, was bullied, fell into severe depression, and took an overdose.Kazi will have to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. A lifelong sexual harm prevention order and lifelong restraining order was also handed down. Detective Constable Georgia Hughes from Cheshire Police Credit: ITV NewsDetective Constable Georgia Hughes from Cheshire Police said the victims believed they were in a relationship with someone that they “really trusted and really loved”.She said: “The first time that they’ve had an impression that something was wrong here was when they had police officers knocking on their door to tell them who it is that they’re actually speaking to.”It was very distressing for them, a lot of them were heartbroken.”It has impacted their whole adolescence, their whole teenage years, and massively impacted their ability to trust people and engage in relationships going forward”.She added: “He’s a predator. He’s a very dangerous predator”.Officers said Kazi used a consistent method to target his victims, posing as a white British teenage boy called ‘Reece’. Credit: ITV NewsDetective Sergeant Ross Peel said: “Victims should never feel ashamed of what they have experienced. The responsibility for these offences lies solely with the offender, and we want anyone who has been subjected to this kind of abuse to know that they will be listened to, supported and taken seriously.”Our message to parents is to speak to your children and take an interest in the apps and platforms they are using. The potential for online offending is vast, and offenders can target children from anywhere in the world. “By educating yourselves and your children about online safety and the risks associated with communicating with people they do not know online, you can help protect them from becoming victims of crime – the impact of which can be profound and long-lasting.”I hope this case demonstrates our commitment to protecting vulnerable people and bringing an end to the sexual exploitation of children.”It should also serve as a warning to those who, like Kazi, believe that hiding behind a screen makes them anonymous and untouchable”.Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…
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