A man who groomed online two teenage girls he subsequently sexually attacked has been jailed.

Taheeb Udusole, 27 (22.12.88), a Nigerian national of no fixed address, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday 14 March to seven years imprisonment for three counts of sexual activity with a child under 16; one count against a 14-year-old, two against a 15-year-old.

He also received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order [SOPO] and will be deported at the end of his sentence.

Udusole had appeared for trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday, 13 March charge with rape against each victim, but changed his plea to guilty for the for three counts of sexual activity with a child, which was accepted.

The conviction and sentencing follows an investigation by the Met’s Child Sexual Exploitation Team.

Detective Sergeant Laura Hillier, the investigating officer, said:

“Taheeb Udusole is a predator who claimed that he believed the girls were adult because neither arrived in school uniform. Both girls had told Udusole their age and he continued to force them to have sex regardless”.

“Unaware that they were victims, these girls have gone through a traumatic experience and should be proud of the strength of character they have shown during the investigation and approaching trial. I hope that today’s sentence brings them a measure of comfort and closure and that they can move on with their lives.

“We cannot be certain that there are not more victims who have suffered from the actions of this man who have not yet come forward. I would urge anyone who has been a victim to contact police immediately by dialling 101.”

Udusole had met the victims on social media. Initially he claimed to be a 17-year-old boy named Daniel, who was rich due to his father being an African King. He later increased his age to 19, but in reality was an unemployed 27-year-old.

He would typically offer gifts and money to his victims, and then send taxis to collect each victim so they could be brought to him to collect their gifts. Udusole would then have the taxi bring them to an address near his home in east London to try and prevent his victims from knowing where he actually lived.

The victims, who did not know each other, each believed that ‘Daniel’ was their boyfriend. Both made their allegations against him independently and it was the method Udusole used to meet and groom his victims that led to the Child Sexual Exploitation Team to taking on the investigation, and linking the two cases.

On 5 May 2016 Udusole was arrested by officers. He was initially charged on 6 May with one count of rape against his 15-year-old victim, a further count against the 14-year-old subsequently followed.

This sentence comes during the Met’s week of support of Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day on Saturday, 18 March.

Figures from the Metropolitan Police have revealed that crimes connected with child sexual exploitation (CSE) across the capital have risen by nearly 50 per cent between 2014 and 2016.

The Met will mark National CSE Awareness Day with a conference in central London on Friday, 17March, bringing together police, partners and practitioners to discuss how to best support victims, bring perpetrators of CSE to justice and encourage more victims of this under-reported crime to come forward.

Anyone who feels that have been a victim of CSE is urged to contact police.