Ameer Ali, aged 26, of Trimdon Avenue, Middlesbrough, has been sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment at Teesside Crown Court after resuming sexual offending against children just weeks after receiving a suspended sentence.
The court heard that Ali appeared in court in April for similar sexual offences, where he was granted a suspended sentence and given a clear warning regarding future conduct.
Despite the court’s leniency, Ali resumed illicit online activity by June.
Using an unregistered alias on Snapchat that had not been declared to police, Ali made contact with an individual he believed was a young girl under the age of 13.
The account was being operated by a decoy posing as a child.
Across a three-day period, Ali engaged in sexually explicit grooming communications, repeatedly demanding the transmission of naked photographs and explicit videos.
To persuade the supposed child into sexual acts, Ali also transmitted photographs and video recordings of himself.
Mitigating on his behalf, defence barrister Jonathan Gittins told the court that Ali had been feeling isolated and lonely during the period the offences occurred.
Proceedings confirmed that the leniency of the earlier suspended sentence had failed to alter his offending behaviour.
Ali entered guilty pleas to five separate counts:
- Attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity
- Attempting to communicate sexually with a child
- Breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)
- Attempting to breach a Sexual Harm Prevention Order
- Failing to comply with annual sex offender notification requirements
Passing sentence, Judge Anthony Dunne emphasised the rapid escalation in offending following his previous court appearance and imposed an immediate custodial term of four years and six months (54 months).
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court imposed a new 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order containing strict monitoring conditions regarding digital devices and internet access, and ordered that Ali remain subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely (for life).
Release Calculation: Under UK sentencing legislation governing standard determinate sentences of less than seven years, early release provisions apply at the halfway mark. Ali will be required to serve two years and three months (27 months) in prison custody before becoming eligible for automatic release on licence under the supervision of the Probation Service.
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