Former youth camp manager from Southampton jailed for online abuse
Cameron Osman, 45, jailed for 13 years
Last updated 1st Nov 2023
A former children’s holiday camp manager from Southampton who groomed more than 70 teenage boys online by pretending to be a 16-year-old girl has been jailed.
A National Crime Agency investigation identified Cameron Osman, 45, as the person behind online alias ‘Lizzielemon’, which contacted victims on Instagram, MyLol and Love Crush, before moving them on to Google Hangouts, Discord and Skype.
Osman engaged them in sexualised chat revolving around a fantasy online world with Osman pretending to be a teenage girl. He never identified himself, instead telling victims his camera was broken.
Osman would say that ‘Lizzielemon’ was from Bristol or Birmingham, that he had a fetish for dominating boys in school uniform and sports kit, and for conducting teacher/student role plays.
The offending took place between 2020 and 2021.
The NCA tracked Osman down to a friend’s address in Crowborough, East Sussex, in September 2021 and arrested him.
He had resigned from his job at a holiday camp activity centre in Hailsham a few days earlier.
His laptop and mobile phone were seized, and Osman was found to have contacted 76 boys in the UK aged between 12 and 16 during the offending period.
Officers found no evidence of Osman grooming children at the activity centre.
Law enforcement partners in the US uncovered chat logs showing sexualised communication by Osman with underage boys in 27 countries. He also searched online for underage boys in Colombia, where he was planning to visit.
The investigation continued after Osman was released on bail, and he proceeded to offend again, leading to his re-arrest on 27 March this year after a further victim was identified. Osman pretended to be a younger man on this occasion and shared photos of himself.
Osman pleaded guilty to 36 separate charges at St Albans Crown Court on 2 May 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 sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, plus five years on licence, at the same court on 1 November. Osman was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
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.”