Sheffield sex attacker's jail term extended for trolling victim online

Waseem Khaliq, aged 35, of Eldon Street, Sheffield city centre, was jailed for 10 years last month after a National Crime Agency investigation into historic child sex abuse in Rotherham.

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He was one of seven ‘predators’ found guilty of sexually abusing young girls over a decade ago.

The men were prosecuted following an investigation by the National Crime Agency as part of Operation Stovewood, which is looking into non-recent sexual offences in Rotherham.

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The NCA acted following the publication of a report which established that at least 1,400 children were abused in the town over between 1997 and 2013 while authorities failed to act.

More than 200 investigators are working on Operation Stovewood, with 313 alleged victims and survivors spoken to and 190 suspects identified so far.

During the latest trial at Sheffield Crown Court, the attackers were said to have known their victims were either vulnerable and underage, and in some cases both, when they raped or sexually assaulted them.

Some of the men used threats of violence and often had sex with the children while the youngsters were drunk or high on drugs.

The men were described as ‘predators’ and ‘targeted and then abused girls in Rotherham for their own sexual satisfaction’

Khaliq, who was convicted of indecent assault and child abduction, has been had an additional 45 months added to his prison sentence for witness intimidation after trolling one of his victims on Facebook and Twitter. He also made a phone call from prison to the National Crime Agency control centre threatening two of the investigating officers.

He said he knew where one of them lived, was close to finding out the address of the other and hoped they died of cancer or AIDS.Khaliq, who was convicted of indecent assault and child abduction, had his sentence extended today after pleading guilty to three counts of witness intimidation.

The first count related to a Facebook account he set up, using the false name of ‘Andros Simpson’.

He claimed to be an investigative journalist looking into what was happening in Rotherham.Khaliq then used the account to make a series of allegations about one of his victims, claiming she was lying and had only agreed to give evidence after the NCA offered her cash and a new house.

He also used the account to contact a number of associates of the victim.The NCA contacted Facebook and had the account closed down, but similar posts continued to be made on other Facebook and Twitter accounts. They ceased when Khaliq was remanded into custody in March 2019.The other two counts against Khaliq related to threatening two NCA officers investigating the abuse allegations against him. NCA senior investigating officer, Phillip Marshall, said: “Through his vindictive campaign of social media trolling Khaliq only compounded the suffering his victims had already gone through. “They showed extreme bravery in coming forward and continuing to give evidence despite this, and I once again pay tribute to them. “Our investigation has been victim focused throughout, and this conviction demonstrates that we will not tolerate attempts to intimidate victims or our officers who work with them.”