Locations
Roberts Street, Eccles, Manchester, Salford, M30
Description
Szuhel Lee, 53, of Roberts Street, Salford, has been jailed for 27 months after being caught attempting to arrange the sexual abuse of a child with an undercover officer – less than a year after his release from a 10-year US prison sentence for a similar offence.
Lee was first jailed in Florida in 2013 after travelling to Orlando with the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a child under 16. He was released in 2022. In August 2025 he began messaging an undercover officer from Operation Xcalibur on a porn website, later moving the conversation to Telegram.
On 5 September he asked about sexually abusing the officer’s purported granddaughter and requested to speak to the “girl.” One message he sent read: “Do you s*** his d***?”
He was arrested in October 2025. Police recovered hundreds of indecent images of children from his devices, including 121 Category A images and videos of children aged four to six, 135 Category B images and videos of children aged 0–12 months, and 1,109 Category C images of children aged six to eight. Seven extreme pornographic images depicting bestiality were also found.
Lee pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to attempted sexual communication with a child, making Category A, B and C indecent images of children, and possession of an extreme pornographic image.
Prosecutor Eleanor Brambell told the court the conversation began on 12 August 2025 and that Lee “said he wanted to speak to the ‘granddaughter’” before asking her to describe sexual abuse.
Defending, Clare Ashcroft said Lee had received no offence-related courses in the US prison and “has never been given the opportunity to engage with the probation service and to address what is a sexual interest in children.” She described him as an isolated individual with little family contact who “felt very alone and didn’t know what to do.”
Recorder Alexandra Simmonds sentenced Lee, stating: “The similarity between the previous case and this one demonstrates a continued sexual interest in children on your part, and a perseverance to continue that behaviour not withstanding the length of sentence.”
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.