A paedophile who went on the run as detectives closed in on him is now facing prison after a jury convicted him of a string of child sex offences.
Mezbaha Uddin was arrested by the National Crime Agency in Dover after being found hiding in a lorry destined for France.
The 39-year-old was under investigation by Nottinghamshire Police in relation to a number of incidents between September 2018 and July 2020.
A jury has now found him guilty of 16 child sexual offences.
They included 10 counts of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child and six counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
Canterbury Crown Court heard his arrest followed an allegation of sexual communication with a child in Nottinghamshire in July 2019.
Jurors heard he interacted with a decoy account set up by an online child activist group. The group alerted police when he sent indecent images of himself and arranged to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl in Mansfield.
Uddin was arrested and his mobile seized.
Messages from a chatroom website found Uddin, of Outram Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, had attempted to engage in sexual communications with over a dozen underage girls, in some instances with a view to meet up with them.
On other occasions he encouraged girls to engage in sexual activity while he watched.
Detective Constable Stuart Dolby, of Nottinghamshire Police’s public protection team, welcomed the convictions.
He said: “This was a complex and thorough investigation which included disturbing evidence for our officers to deal with.
“I am pleased with the verdicts and I hope they send a clear message that Nottinghamshire Police will do what is necessary to tackle these crimes and to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities.
“Child sex offences of any kind are taken incredibly seriously and we have a number of tactics in place to catch offenders out.
“No child should be subjected to any sexual offence and it’s our duty to protect them.”
Uddin will be sentenced on October 22.
