Rahamim Shy

Rahamim Shy, a 47-year-old former senior adviser to the US government on Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Obama administration, and an international investment banker from Jersey City, New Jersey, was jailed for attempting to commit a child sex offence in the UK.

Shy engaged in over a month of explicit online communications via forums and messaging apps, describing in disturbing detail sexual acts he wished to perform on a nine-year-old girl. He referred to her age as a 'tad late' to start sexual activity and expressed it as an 'honour' to be her 'first'. Unbeknownst to him, he was communicating with an undercover Bedfordshire Police officer posing as 'Debbie', the purported grandmother of the child. The child did not exist; it was part of a sting operation to catch potential child sex offenders.

On 23 February 2024, Shy flew from the US to Gatwick Airport and drove to Bedford in Bedfordshire, where he met the undercover officer and was immediately arrested. Officers searching his luggage discovered cuddly toys and condoms, which the prosecution argued demonstrated his intent to groom and abuse the child. Further evidence from his phone included indecent photographs of children and additional messages confirming his sexual interest in minors.

At Luton Crown Court, Shy was found guilty on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, of arranging the commission of a child sex offence—specifically rape—and possessing indecent photographs of a child. The defence had argued jurisdictional issues since the messaging occurred in the US, but the prosecution successfully contended that English courts had authority over offences planned abroad but intended for commission in England. He was acquitted of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Shy was sentenced to 11 years and six months' imprisonment. Lorraine Telford of the Crown Prosecution Service stated: 'Rahamim Shy is a predator who was fully prepared to commit unspeakable acts against a child for his own sexual gratification. It was clear from his explicit conversations and items he brought to England that he had only one intention, to commit rape against what he knew was a vulnerable child. The fact the child in this case did not exist makes no difference, and it is a credit to the police operation and subsequent prosecution that Shy will no longer pose an immediate threat.' This case highlights the effectiveness of undercover operations by Bedfordshire Police and the CPS in preventing child sexual exploitation.