Kwame Yeboah, a former England youth basketball international and former British Airways pilot, met his victim on video chatroom Omegle before exchanging a series of explicit messages
A British Airways pilot drove hundreds of miles in his Mercedes with the intention to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl after grooming her on social media. Former England youth basketball player Kwame Yeboah met his victim on the video chatroom Omegle before exchanging a series of explicit messages and calls with her via Instagram.
This led him to travel from his home in the south of England to the Wirral area to meet the schoolgirl. He then checked into a hotel on Merseyside before raping the youngster twice in his car.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the complainant’s mum informed Merseyside Police after learning from one of the girl’s friends that her child had been communicating with a man online and later had sex with him, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Louise McCloskey, prosecuting, described how the mother was told that the male in question was in his 30s and drove a black Mercedes, with his number saved under a false name in her daughter’s phone. When subsequently questioned by police, the victim was “initially dismissive” but later told her mum in the presence of PCs: “I don’t know why you had to tell the police. It’s not like I’ve been raped or anything.”
After being informed that she might have needed emergency contraception if any sexual activity had occurred, she then added: “No, I’m not getting it. I’ll keep the baby.”
However, she later verified to detectives that she and Yeboah, of Drake Way in Reading, had encountered each other on Omegle, a website where users engage in video chats with randomly chosen strangers, approximately three months prior. He then followed her on Instagram, where they swapped sexualised images and messages and engaged in video calls.
Although she initially told Yeboah she was 17, she subsequently sent him photos of her in her school uniform and mentioned being grounded in their exchanges. When she stated she couldn’t meet him following his requests, he responded with emotionally manipulative messages including: “I can’t do this no more, because you’re not meeting me. I can’t call because it makes me sad, because I can’t see you.”
This led to Yeboah travelling to the Wirral and reserving a hotel room in the vicinity. She then climbed out of a window at her home to meet him in his car nearby, giving him a hug before he told her: “You’re dainty, aren’t you?”.
Yeboah subsequently drove them around for a while until he suggested to “go to a car park and do stuff”, telling her that he was “horny”. After stopping his vehicle, he then touched her sexually before raping her.
When seemingly disturbed by another car pulling up next to them, Yeboah drove to a second location where he instructed her to perform a sex act on him and raped her for a second time. He later messaged the girl after “becoming anxious about her obtaining the morning after pill”, telling her: “You lied to me. They would have asked you a bunch of questions before they gave it to you.”
At this, she responded: “I just don’t want you to be mad at me. I love you. I wouldn’t lie to you. Don’t text for a bit, social services are at my house.”
Yeboah has no previous convictions. Richard Pratt KC, defending, told the court: “In her victim personal statement, she refers to nightmares in which the defendant is blaming her for the impact on his own life. Nothing could be further from the truth. He has, throughout his time in custody, fully accepted that all that happened to him, let alone what happened to her, was his fault and his alone.
“Your honour knows, for personal reasons, he made the grave error of seeking comfort by contact with social media. She accepted that she told him she was 17. He, for his part, accepted that and accepts, with hindsight, there were plain warnings signs that she was younger than that.
“He was born in Ghana. He still retains strong links with his heritage there and with the Ghanaian community in the UK. He is a dedicated member of what is plainly a very loving and supportive family. Your honour will have noticed, in the public gallery, relatives including his mother and partner and other family members and friends, such is the level of support they have for him.
“Each of them, in their references to the court, have acknowledged the gravity of what he has done. They recognise the stupidity, the awfulness, of what he did, but also can inform the court as to his likely future conduct and his reaction to these matters.
“He is an extremely talented basketball player. He represented England at youth level and is also a referee in the sport. He trained as a first officer in British Airways. He is described by colleagues as always remaining grounded, despite his achievements.
“It is a matter of great sadness that someone who has achieved so much, not just in his job, but also in the love and affection so many people have for him, that he can have behaved in way he did. As he has recognised, his actions have caused him to lose so much and have caused not only harm to [the victim] and her family, but also to those close to him.”
Yeboah pleaded guilty to three counts of rape of a child under 13 and assault of a child under 13 by penetration. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and handed an additional year on licence.
During sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: “She was 12-years of age. She did initially tell you that she was 17 years of age and provided information, when communicating with you, which might be said to tentatively be consistent with that assertion. She also engaged in sexualised chat.
“However, during those conversations and those message exchanges, she sent you images of herself in her school uniform. She referred to being at school and not being an adult. She referred to tests she was sitting. There was chat about her not being allowed out and her sexual inexperience. All of this was indicative of her true age…
“During the course of that communication, sexually explicit photographs and videos were exchanged. There were highly sexualised messages sent by you. The language you used was extremely sexualised, referring to explicit sexual acts you wanted to engage in.
“You pursued a desire to meet with her. I am satisfied, in the context of what you knew about the person you were communicating with, that was language designed to emotionally blackmail and manipulate this young girl. Eventually, you were successful. It appears, reluctantly, she agreed meet with you.”
He added: “There was clearly some grooming behaviour. You sought to manipulate or emotionally blackmail your victim in the context of meeting up for sexual acts.”
Yeboah was also issued a restraining order which will prohibit him from contacting his victim for 15 years. He will be obliged to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.