Man who groomed boys in Braintree is put behind bars

The National Crime Agency investigated Cameron Osman, who used the online alias ‘Lizzielemon’ to identify his victims on Instagram, MyLol and Love Crush, before moving them on to Google Hangouts, Discord and Skype.

Osman’s victims lived across the UK including in Braintree.

He engaged them in sexualised chat revolving around a fantasy online world with Osman pretending to be a teenage girl.

He never identified himself, instead telling victims his camera was broken.

Osman would tell his victims that ‘Lizzielemon’ was from Bristol or Birmingham, that he had a fetish for dominating boys in school uniform and sports kit, and for conducting teacher and student role plays.

The offending took place between 2020 and 2021.

The NCA tracked Osman down to a friend’s address in Crowborough, East Sussex, in September 2021 and arrested him.

He had resigned from his job at a holiday camp activity centre in Hailsham a few days earlier.

His laptop and mobile phone were seized, and Osman was found to have contacted 76 boys in the UK aged between 12 and 16 during the offending period. All have been safeguarded.

Officers found no evidence of Osman grooming children at the activity centre.

Investigators in the United States also uncovered chat logs showing sexualised communication by Osman with underage boys in 27 countries.

He also searched online for underage boys in Colombia, where he was planning to visit.

Jailed - Cameron Osman (Image: National Crime Agency)

Osman was released on bail as the investigation continued, but proceeded to offend again, leading to his arrest on March 27 this year after a further victim was identified.

He pretended to be a younger man on this occasion and shared photos of himself.

Osman, 45, pleaded guilty to 36 separate charges at St Albans Crown Court on May 2.

These included attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, and making two category C indecent images of children.

He was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, plus five years on licence, at the same court today, November 1.

Osman was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

NCA Operations Manager Danielle Pownall said: “Cameron Osman pretended to be a teenage girl to prey on boys for his own sexual gratification.

“His offending affected dozens of children, who now have to live with the consequences of his actions. I would like to commend their bravery in coming forward, which has helped put Osman behind bars.

“The NCA will continue to target those engaged in online child sexual abuse and bring them to justice.”

An NSPCC spokesperson added:  “Osman was far too easily able to use social media to groom large numbers of children and move them on to private messaging apps where he sexually abused them.

“Online child sexual abuse can have a devastating impact on victims which is why it is so crucial that those targeted by predators like Osman can be identified by the authorities and supported.

“The Online Safety Act is now law so tech companies should be acting now to make their platforms much safer for children, including private messaging and end-to-end encrypted services.”