Former holiday camp manager jailed after grooming Kettering teenager online

A former children’s holiday camp manager who groomed more than 70 teenage boys online – including one from Kettering – has been locked up.

Cameron Osman, from Southampton, used the alias ‘Lizzielemon’ to identify his victims on Instagram, MyLol and Love Crush before moving them on to Google Hangouts, Discord and Skype.

His sick communications revolved around a fantasy online world with 45-year-old 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 roleplay.

He was investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and tracked down to a friend’s house in East Sussex in September 2021 when he was arrested.

Osman had resigned from his job at a holiday camp activity centre a few days earlier but officers found no evidence of him grooming children there.

His laptop and mobile phone were seized and Osman was found to have contacted 76 boys in the UK aged between 12 and 16. His victims lived across the UK including Croydon, Edgware, Peckham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast, Luton, Portsmouth, Oxford, Chatham, Norwich, Braintree, Hull, Plymouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Kettering, Slough and Worcester. All have been safeguarded.

Investigators in the United States also uncovered chat logs showing sexual communication by Osman with underage boys in 27 countries. He searched online for underage boys in Colombia, where he was planning to visit.

At St Albans Crown Court he pleaded guilty to 36 charges including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual communication with a child.

On Wednesday (November 1) he was jailed for 13 years, plus five years on licence, and given 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 He has become a lot more withdrawn.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 said: “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.”

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.”