A former children's holiday camp manager pretended to be a 16-year-old girl to groom more than 70 teenage boys online. 

Cameron Osman used the online alias 'Lizzielemon' to contact his victims on Instagram, MyLol and Love Crush. 

As reported by the National Crime Agency (NCA), his victims lived across the UK - including in Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth.

The 45-year-old would then move the conversation to Google Hangouts, Discord and Skype where he would engage them in sexualised conversations revolving around a fantasy online world. 

A court heard how he would pretend to be a teenage girl and told his victims that he had a fetish for dominating boys in school uniform and sports kit as well as for conducting teacher/student roleplays. 

He never identified himself and instead said his camera was broken, claiming to be from either Bristol or Birmingham. 

The offences took place between 2020 and 2021 and led to the NCA tracking him down to a friend's address in Crowborough, East Sussex. 

He was arrested in September 2021 having resigned from his job at a holiday camp activity centre in Hailsham just a few days earlier.

When his laptop and phone were seized, officers found evidence that he had contacted 76 boys aged between 12 and 16, all of whom have been safeguarded.

No evidence was found of Osman grooming children at the activity centre though law enforcement in the United States found he had been communicating with underage boys in 27 counties.

He also searched online for underage boys in Colombia, where he planned to visit.

Osman, from Southampton, was released on bail but proceeded to offend, leading to another arrest on March 27 this year. 

He pretended to be a younger man on this occasion and shared photos of himself. 

He pleaded guilty to 36 separate charges at St Albans Crown Court on May 2 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.

He was jailed for 13 years, plus five years on licence, today (November 1). 

Osman also received an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. 

In impact statements read before the court, one victim’s mother said: “What happened affected his confidence hugely. He has become a lot more withdrawn.

“He struggles to talk about what happened because he is embarrassed and humiliated, knowing he was fooled by a grown man pretending to be a young girl. 

"He is now at an age where he should be talking to girls and exploring the world, this man has taken that away from him.”

Another parent said her son tried to take his own life due to what happened.

She said: “Our boy became withdrawn, lost his appetite, his enthusiasm and positivity. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and would not or could not tell us what was going on.

“People think that online grooming is victimless. I always understood that it was not but only now truly understand this.”

One victim added: “I found out this was an adult man and felt disgusted that I was made to be in this situation. I felt violated, lied to and dirty.

“I just want to erase it from my memory if I can, as it’s vile and wrong.”

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NCA Operations Manager Danielle Pownall said: “Cameron Osman pretended to be a teenage girl to prey on boys for his own sexual gratification.

“His offending affected dozens of children, who now have to live with the consequences of his actions. I would like to commend their bravery in coming forward, which has helped put Osman behind bars.

“The NCA will continue to target those engaged in online child sexual abuse and bring them to justice.”

Bethany Raine, Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Cameron Osman created fake online personas in order to groom children.

“Posing as a teenage girl he manipulated numerous boys into believing they were in a relationship and engaged them in sexually explicit conversations. Some were tricked into performing sexual activity on camera for Osman’s gratification. His offending continued even while on bail after his initial arrest. 

“Our Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit was set up last year to prosecute child sexual abuse. Through the work of this unit, the CPS is determined to help stop the devastating impact of these crimes on victims.”