A criminal defence solicitor who paid 13-year-old girls for explicit photos and sexually abused them has been jailed. Suleman Baig, 40 and from Grimsby, also attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to pressure the girls into withdrawing their accusations against him.
Baig pleaded guilty to 15 charges relating to child sexual abuse, including sexual assault, inciting children to engage in sexual activity, and making indecent images of children. He was jailed for nine years and nine months at Leeds Crown Court yesterday.
The court heard that Baig, admitted in 2013, paid the girls hundreds of pounds for explicit images, leaving cash stuffed in toilet rolls in the family home. He sexually abused them on around 20 separate occasions and told one victim to ‘think about vegetables to distract herself’ as he abused her.
When police arrested Baig they uncovered over 700 indecent images of children stored in apps.
Graham Guest, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside, said: ‘Suleman Baig was a practising solicitor who knew exactly how serious his crimes were, yet still continued to systematically groom and abuse two young girls. Baig exploited a position of trust, offering money to manipulate the girls into sending him explicit images for his own gratification. His actions were calculated, predatory, and deeply disturbing.
‘When his offences ultimately caught up with him, he made flagrant attempts to pressure his young victims to withdraw their evidence. I have been extremely impressed by the courage of both victims in coming forward and supporting this prosecution even in the face of his attempts to silence them.’
Baig first met his victims through a childhood friend who had a 13-year-old daughter. He began over time to abuse his relationship with the girl and her best friend. He offered to pay the girls up to £100 for naked photos over Snapchat and ended up paying his victims between £500 and £600. The abuse intensified when Baig began taking further advantage of his relationship with the girls to make them perform sexual acts for him.
Following an investigation by Humberside Police, Baig was arrested at his home in November 2021. He breached his bail conditions both before and after his arrest by trying to persuade victims and witnesses to withdraw their statements and cease cooperating with the investigation.
Following a conviction on two counts of intending to pervert the course of justice, he was granted bail on the condition he surrender his passport to police. He presented a long-expired passport and was then remanded in custody to await sentencing.
