'Dangerous sexual predator' who groomed young girls online escapes jail

mohammed Sarang, 19, pleaded guilty to a number of offences and was given a two-year suspended sentence

A teenage student convicted of grooming young girls by posing as a female modelling agent on Facebook has escaped jail.

Mohammed Sarang, 19, of Pembroke Road, Wembley, pleaded guilty to inciting a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity, taking indecent photographs of a child under 16 and causing or inciting child pornography at Harrow Crown Court on December 3 last year.

At a sentencing hearing on Thursday (February 12), he was given a two-year suspended sentence, a supervision order for two years, a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and was ordered to attend a 60-day training programme at Harrow Crown Court.

Sarang had remotely hacked into the Facebook account of one of his victims’ friends, the court had been told. He took over her identity and created a fraudulent account in the name of a ‘Nicola Hay’ pretending to be a modelling agent.

Using this alias, Sarang befriended several young girls on social media sites. He led them into believing he could find them modeling jobs and in order to check out their suitability, would offer them a webcam audition, during which he would ask them to undress and perform sexual acts.

Sarang’s identity was uncovered, when the mother of one of his victims became concerned when she discovered an online conversation her daughter was having with someone called ‘Nicola' and contacted police.

Following a joint investigation between the Met and Greater Manchester Police, officers arrested Sarang after carrying out a search of his home address in Wembley, where they found computers with online conversations between him and his victim.

Detective Sergeant, Simon Filer of the Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: “Sarang was using a number of online aliases in order to exploit impressionable young girls into thinking they could become models.

"Once gaining their trust, he would incite them into performing sexual acts for his own gratification. He is a dangerous sexual predator.

“I believe there may be many more people who Sarang has befriended and abused through social media sites. I would ask them to contact me via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”