Ridwan Kasem
Burnley
· Author
A sex predator who recorded himself raping a primary school aged boy has been sentenced to six years and six months after police uncovered the disgusting footage on his phone.
Ridwan Kasem, 20, filmed his sexual abuse of theboy who was aged under 13 and also downloaded images showing other children being abused.
Although his face was not visible in the recordings, a silver bracelet helped investigators identify him. The same bracelet appeared in ordinary photographs stored on his device.
Kasem, of Burnley, pleaded guilty to rape, taking indecent images, making indecent images and possessing prohibited images. He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court
The investigation began after the National Crime Agency became aware that four Category A child abuse images had been uploaded to Snapchat in the early hours of March 1, 2025.
Police attended an address in Burnley, arrested Kasem and seized an iPhone and a MacBook laptop.
Prosecutor Richard Howarth told the court that an examination of the phone revealed four videos made by Kasem documenting sexual offending against the boy, including rape committed in January 2024.
The recordings provided evidence of abuse Kasem had inflicted himself, alongside the material he had downloaded depicting other victims.
Investigators found 39 downloaded Category A images — the most serious classification — and 25 Category B images. Kasem also possessed 15 prohibited images.
During his police interview, he supplied the phone’s PIN but declined to answer officers’ questions.
Judge Philip Parry said Kasem’s actions involved “planning and preparation” and that the child was likely to have suffered very serious emotional and physical harm.
Addressing the downloaded abuse material, the judge said: “They are of the most graphic kind one can imagine, including involving the rape of young children.”
The offences before the court included both the rape of a child and the creation of recordings documenting that abuse.
Alongside his prison sentence, he was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order lasting 20 years.
He will also remain subject to sex offender notification requirements for life.
