Former East Sussex children’s holiday camp manager groomed more than 70 young boys online

The NCA said it investigated Cameron Osman, 44, from Southampton, who used the online alias ‘Lizzielemon’ to identify his victims on Instagram, MyLol and Love Crush, before moving them on to Google Hangouts, Discord and Skype.

An NCA spokesperson added: “He engaged them in sexualised chat revolving around a fantasy online world with Osman pretending to be a teenage girl. He never identified himself, instead telling victims his camera was broken. Osman would tell his victims that ‘Lizzielemon’ was from Bristol or Birmingham, that he had a fetish for dominating boys in school uniform and sports kit, and for conducting teacher/student role plays.”

The NCA said it tracked Osman down to a friend’s address in Crowborough in September 2021 and arrested him.

The spokesperson added: “He had resigned from his job at a holiday camp activity centre in Hailsham a few days earlier. His laptop and mobile phone were seized, and Osman was found to have contacted 76 boys in the UK aged between 12-16 during the offending period. All have been safeguarded.”

Officers found no evidence of Osman grooming children at the activity centre, said the NCA.

The NCA said investigators in the United States also uncovered chat logs showing sexualised communication by Osman with underage boys in 27 countries. He also searched online for underage boys in Columbia, where he was planning to visit, the NCA added.

The spokesperson said: “Osman was released on bail as the investigation continued, but proceeded to offend again, leading to his arrest on March 27 this year after a further victim was identified. Osman pretended to be a younger man on this occasion and shared photos of himself.

“Osman appeared at St Albans Crown Court yesterday (May 2) where he pleaded guilty to 36 separate charges, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, and making two category C indecent images of children.”

NCA operations manager Danielle Pownall added: “Cameron Osman callously preyed on vulnerable teenage boys, masquerading as a teenage girl for his own sexual gratification.”

Osman is due to be sentenced on June 30.

The NCA said its CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) education programme supports parents, carers, children and professionals to ensure young people have safe and positive experiences online.

The NCA added: “Anyone being pressured or threatened into sending sexual images or videos online should remove themselves immediately from the conversation, not respond further to any contact, and report the matter to police or a trusted adult.

“There are a range of resources available on our website, thinkuknow.co.uk, for adults (to support them in navigating the online world and conversations about it with their children) and children themselves (to help build their resilience online and learn what to do if something doesn’t seem right).”