Foot-fetish Leeds pervert who 'knew' profile of 12-year-old girl was fake is jailed

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A convicted paedophile with a fetish for feet has been jailed, after claiming he knew a profile he contacted was a decoy and maintains he has no sexual interest in children.

Shafiqul Islam, who was previously caught downloading and distributing child-abuse images, was caught by an undercover officer.

He spent three weeks speaking with the profile in August and September on the messenger service KIK, Leeds Crown Court heard.

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Judge Ray Singh told him that he rejected “out of hand” that he had no sexual interest in children, telling him it was “predatory behaviour”.

He jailed him for 25 months in total.

Pervert Islam asked the "girl" for pics of her feet. He later claimed he knew it was a decoy profile, which was rejected by the judge. (pics by WYP / National World)Pervert Islam asked the "girl" for pics of her feet. He later claimed he knew it was a decoy profile, which was rejected by the judge. (pics by WYP / National World)
Pervert Islam asked the "girl" for pics of her feet. He later claimed he knew it was a decoy profile, which was rejected by the judge. (pics by WYP / National World) | WYP / National World

On August 13 this year, Islam contacted the profile. It was made clear early on in their chat that the supposed girl was just 12.

Islam suggested they shower together and cuddle in bed. As the days went on Islam showed grooming behaviour, building up to sexualised chat, prosecutor Vincent Blake-Barnard told the court.

He asked for photos of her, and of her feet, telling her he liked feet. He told her: “I just want to see you and your feet.”

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He later said: “I just want to lick them and suck your cute toes.”

They even discussed meeting, with Islam saying he could come to Birmingham where the girl said she lived.

The 29-year-old admitted a charge of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He was arrested but gave a no-comment interview to police.

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He was due to be sentenced earlier this month, but bizarrely spoke up in court and said he knew the profile was fake “from day one” and was trying to “suss them out”. He said he received “zero gratification”.

Appearing again today, Islam, of Hillcrest Avenue, Chapeltown, accepted the Crown’s case in full.

Islam has previously been convicted of making and distributing child abuse images in 2022. For that he received 24 months’ jail, suspended for 24 month and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.

Earlier this year he escaped custody again after he was caught dealing cannabis, and given another 16 months’ jail, suspended for 24 months. His latest offending put him in breach of that sentence.

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Mitigating, Lily Wildman said that Islam had been on remand for several months and that the judge could “step away” from an immediate custodial sentence so he could seek help.

However, she said Islam was “under no illusions for the seriousness of this offending.”

Judge Singh said there the only appropriate sentence was custody.

He said: ”You genuinely believed it was a female aged 12. Despite your initial protestation that you were dealing with a decoy, you maintained that all the way through.

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“It’s abundantly clear that you genuinely believed it was a young child.”

He gave Islam a 13-month sentence, and activated 12 months of his previous suspended sentence order to run consecutively.

His SHPO will continue and he was put on the sex offender register for seven years.

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