Residents have been left disgusted after an Instagram account seemingly owned by a known sex offender has been posting photographs of unsuspecting young girls in a Swindon shopping hotspot.
The account, in the name of former cancer scientist Dr Prabhat Sakya, has hundreds of photos of young women and children, with several recent photos taken at Swindon Designer Outlet.
Sakya was convicted of sexual assaulting of two women at Swindon Magistrates’ Court in October 2021.
According to the Daily Mail, magistrates were told that he “trapped” his victims by sitting by them on a GWR train before touching their legs, hips, stomach and breast.
One of the victims also said that she saw a 'bulge in his crotch area of his trousers', which she believed to be an erection, and that Sakya was 'touching his trousers' as he 'stroked' her.
He then sat next to another women on the same journey and began touching her knee and thigh before using his index finger to draw patterns on her leg.
As the train arrived at Swindon, Sakya got up to leave but touched the woman’s breast in the process.
Unbeknown to him, Wiltshire Police officers had been deployed to the station in a bid to locate him after his first victim’s report.
He was then sentenced to 52 weeks’ imprisonment and was suspended for 24 months.
Now two years later, Sakya appears to be continuing to post photos of unsuspecting women and children to his Instagram account with captions including “Flirt with me” and “Beautiful girl”.
There is no law preventing people from taking photographs in public and this includes taking photos of other people’s children.
Despite this, fears remain amongst Swindonians about the social media behaviour on the Instagram account with over 4,308 posts.
A viral Facebook post about the issue produced a strong reaction from residents who were disgusted by the behaviour.
“I feel sick and it’s really scary that he’s been able to get away with it for so long,” said one commenter.
Another concerned local added: “He is a registered sex offender with pictures of teenage girls all over his Instagram page.
“He is clearly a danger, why is he still on the streets.”
The Adver approached McArthur Glen for comment.
A spokesperson said: “The Centre have altered this matter to their security team and have been in touch with local police.
“In addition, the page has been reported to Instagram for its inappropriate content.”
Wiltshire Police were also contacted but could not comment.
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