Paedophile jailed for Rotherham child abuse has sentence extended for trolling victim

A paedophile, who was jailed for ten years for abusing young girls in Rotherham, has had another 45 months added to his sentence after admitting trolling one of his victims.

Waseem Khaliq, 35, set up a fake Facebook account and used it in an attempt to intimidate the girl and undermine her evidence.

He also made a threatening phone call from prison, telling officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) who were investigating him that he knew where they lived.

Khaliq was convicted of child abduction and indecent assault at Sheffield Crown Court last month as part of the long running Operation Stovewood investigation into sexual abuse and exploitation in Rotherham.

But after he was charged, Khaliq set up a fake Facebook account using the name, Andros Simpson, and used it to troll one of his victims.

Claiming to be an investigative journalist, who was looking into what happened in Rotherham, he claimed the victim was lying and said she was only giving evidence because she had been offered cash and a new house.

He also used the account to contact a number of associates of the victim in an attempt to intimidate her and prevent her from giving evidence.

Investigators from the National Crime Agency contacted Facebook and had the account closed down, but Khaliq continued to post comments on other accounts.

The intimidation only stopped when he was remanded into custody in March this year.

But while he was awaiting his trial, Khaliq contacted two NCA investigators telling one he knew where they lived and warning the other he was close to finding out his address.

He also told them he hoped they died of cancer or AIDS.

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.”