January 2023

Man sentenced to prison for attempted sexual offences with a child

A Slough man has been jailed after he attempted to pay for sex with a child online.

Sohaib Aslam, of Ditton Park Road, tried to pay someone online to provide him with a child to have sex with but the advert was fake.

The 50-year-old had searched an adult services website to find an escort for sexual services but came across an advert offering a child for sexual exploitation.

He replied to the message and arranged to meet the child at a location in Windsor and agreed to pay £100 to have sex with the child.

But the advert was fake and the child did not exist. Instead, the advert was part of a police operation set up by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) to snare paedophiles.

On the way to the meeting, Aslam was intercepted by SEROCU officers and arrested.

He was found in possession of £100, which he was planning to use to pay for sex with the child.

Aslam was found guilty by unanimous verdict of one count of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence and attempting to pay for the sexual services of a child, at Brighton Crown Court on December 2 last year following a two-day trial.

On January 13, 2023, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and made to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.