Man jailed for grooming at least 70 girls online

A man who groomed at least 70 girls and manipulated them into sending sexually explicit videos and images of themselves has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Bilal Kazi, 27, targeted his victims - aged between 10 and 17 - using apps including Snapchat, Wink and Roblox between August 2021 and August 2025.

Kazi, a student from India who was studying at the University of Chester, posed as a 14-year-old white British teenage boy and made his victims believe they were in a relationship with him.

He was jailed after pleading guilty to 37 charges including making indecent images, blackmail and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

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Kazi must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole and will be on the sex offenders register for life.

Once eligible for parole he will be on licence for eight years.

In a personal impact statement read out at Chester Crown Court earlier, one victim said she had struggled with anxiety as Kazi, who later moved to Birmingham, had "taken away a sense of privacy and security".

"I am doing my best to move forward but the effects are still with me," she said.

"The harm caused is not limited to the time events took place - they continue to affect my daily life."

The court heard that some of the victims had attempted suicide, struggled with anxiety and developed eating disorders.

One victim, who was 13 years old when Kazi first contacted her, said he took her "innocence away".

"I hope one day I can get on with my life," she said.

Judge Stephen Everett said Kazi was a sexual predator who took advantage of "what appears to be a lack of proper security on social media sites".

"It is incomprehensible to me why any person would do what you did to those little girls," the court heard.

"This was bad enough, but when one learns of all the other images you demanded for your deviant sexual desires, we will never know how many victims there were.

"Children who believed they were safe in their own homes - and by your gross misuse of social media - you took away all of that safety, all of that comfort."

The judge said it was difficult to find any mitigating factors and said he doubted Kazi's remorse.

"You are a very dangerous person," he said.

"In a sophisticated way, you got into the minds of young people and got them to do things that were totally alien to them."

Talking about one victim, Everett said: "She won't look back on her childhood with any great pleasure - she will look on it totally blighted at what this fiend did to her."

He added: "These are not just pictures on a computer these are young lives that have been blighted."

Det Con Georgia Hughes, from Cheshire Police, said Kazi had not shown any remorse.

"The girls targeted by Kazi were young and vulnerable," she said.

"For many, their interactions with him were their first experience of what they believed to be a romantic relationship.

"Exploiting that trust, Kazi manipulated them into believing that his behaviour was normal.

"Many lived in constant fear of what he would do if they failed to comply with his demands, and some have carried that fear with them for years.

"What should have been important formative years have instead been overshadowed by the trauma of Kazi's abuse."

Speaking on online safety, Sgt Ross Peel said the force's message to parents was to "speak to your children and take an interest in the apps and platforms they are using".

"The potential for online offending is vast," he said.

"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."