Operation Bullfinch: Child sex trafficker Tilal Mahdi jailed
- Published
Tilal Mahdi groomed two girls between 1996 and 2008
A man who sexually abused young girls in the Oxford area and trafficked them around the UK has been jailed.
Tilal Mahdi, 36, of Friars Street in Hereford, plied two girls aged 13 to 15 with alcohol and drugs and then "used them for his own sexual gratification".
Police filmed a victim telling her story, external and said Mahdi actively targeted the girls between 1996 and 2008.
He was sentenced to 18 years at Oxford Crown Court on Friday having been caught as part of Operation Bullfinch.
A jury had found him guilty on 30 January of a string of sexual offences.
'Feel special'
The offences and sentences were:
Conspiracy to rape a girl under 16 - 18 years
Conspiracy to indecently assault a girl under 16 - eight years
Conspiracy to rape a girl under 16 years - 12 years
Trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation - 10 years
Arranging or facilitating child prostitution of a child under the age of 18 years - 10 years
The sentences are all to run concurrently.
Senior investigating officer Det Ch Insp Mark Glover said: "He would befriend the girls and make them feel wanted and special.
"Once he'd gained their trust, he would then use them for his own sexual gratification. Not only that, but he would then allow others to abuse the girls as well.
"The girls were underage, they were threatened and they were plied with alcohol and drugs, so felt they had no choice but to do what Mahdi told them."
Mahdi is the tenth man to be convicted and sentenced as part of Operation Bullfinch.
He is currently in prison serving a sentence for an unrelated drugs charge.