A man who sent thousands of inappropriate messages to underage children and had 500 indecent images of children on his devices has been jailed.

The Metropolitan Police said officers spent “countless hours” trawling through the messages sent by Saner Muharrem, 25, of Homer Drive.

An investigation first launched into Muharrem on October 20, 2021, after intelligence indicated he was uploading indecent images of children online.

His phone was seized by police during a search warrant at his home, and it was discovered he was contacting many underage girls through social media such as Snapchat and Instagram.

Over 500 indecent images of children were also found.

East London Advertiser: Saner Muharrem, 25, of Homer Drive Saner Muharrem, 25, of Homer Drive (Image: Met Police)

And while a Sexual Risk Order was granted at Thames Magistrates’ Court on November 23, 2022, Muharrem continued his predatory behaviour and tried to obtain more images of girls under 16.

He also tried to meet up with several young girls, the Metropolitan Police said.

During one meeting, he was with a 13-year-old girl and kissed her without consent.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court last Friday (January 12), he was sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment, after he was previously convicted of 11 offences following a two-week trial.

PC Simon Marchant-Brown, who led the investigation, said: “Muharrem would befriend the girls on social media and act like he cared for them. He offered to give them money, alcohol and cannabis in order to convince them to send incident images of themselves.

“Today’s sentencing reflects the severity of his offences. He manipulated young girls and would even threaten to leak the images if they did not send more.

“I would like to praise the seven young victims who gave evidence in court; your bravery does not go unnoticed, without you we would not have been able to jail this predator.”