Authorities in Dubai moved against an Asian man after an international child protection watchdog flagged disturbing online activity involving a minor, according to case details reported by Khaleej Times.
The warning reached UAE officials late last year, when the International Child Protection Centre in the United States reported that a Dubai resident had been sending sexually explicit material to a young girl and urging her to imitate the acts during calls. Investigators from Dubai Police’s cybercrime unit later linked the Instagram account in question to the defendant and summoned him for questioning. He denied any wrongdoing, but officers confiscated his phone and sent it for forensic analysis.
Records presented in court showed that experts found 18 explicit videos on the device. They also recovered chat threads in which the man repeatedly pushed the girl to record herself in compromising positions and share the clips. Additional messages captured his attempts to persuade her to engage in further inappropriate behaviour during voice conversations.
In its ruling, the Court of First Instance said the man had exploited Instagram to target a minor and solicit immoral content, noting that the evidence retrieved from his mobile phone contradicted his denial. The panel imposed a Dh5,000 fine and ordered the confiscation of the handset.
The judgment was later reviewed by the Court of Appeal, which upheld the conviction and confirmed that the forensic findings and chat records provided decisive proof of the offences. Authorities again underscored the UAE’s zero-tolerance approach to crimes involving minors and encouraged parents to stay alert to any troubling online interactions.
