A man has been jailed for sharing disturbing images of children with others in an online chatroom.
Rafattullah Rustayee, 25, was found with more than 800 pictures and videos of children as young as three being abused. Police also discovered that he had been speaking with other offenders about their sexual interest in children and sharing illegal material.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that police received intelligence about indecent images being uploaded online. In October 2024, officers executed a search at Rustayee’s home, seizing an iPhone, iPad, and iMac.
While nothing was found on the iMac, 885 images of children aged three to 15 were discovered on the other devices, including almost three hours of video content.
Prosecutor Thomas Duggan said the defendant had been sharing images online between November 20, 2023, and October 2, 2024. Rustayee used a Telegram account to send 59 images to others in the forum. The content included references to BDSM and other sexualized material.
Rustayee’s lawyer, Ammo Khanna, described him as a quiet man who understands he has a problem. She said he struggles with shame but now wants to seek help from a therapist or the police.
The court was told that Rustayee came to the UK as a refugee seven years ago and had witnessed extreme violence in his home country. Despite having leave to remain in Britain, he is concerned about the possibility of deportation.
Recorder Michael Duck KC told Rustayee: “Without people distributing these images, the market for child abuse material would not exist. You contribute to that market.”
Rustayee pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of distributing them.
