A man has been jailed after grooming and sexually abusing a girl younger than 15 years old at a fish and chip shop in South East London.
Jasamritpal Singh, 34, had first encountered the minor when she was buying food at the Parade Fish Bar in Crayford, before buying her alcohol and vapes and grooming her into sexual activity.
The girl said Singh raped her and had threatened her to stay silent - which the 34-year-old denied, a court heard.
When incriminating messages were later found on the man's phone, Singh pleaded guilty to five charges of sexual activity with a child.
Singh first met the teenager at the Parade Fish Bar, before he raped her on several occasions
Met Police/Google
Naomi Perry, prosecuting, said Singh had committed the offences in 2023 - after grooming the victim with e-cigarettes and alcohol, she said, Singh "love-bombed" the girl.
When the offender became aware police were investigating his relationship with the girl, he proceeded to pressure her to delete incriminating texts from her phone.
The teenager later told police that Singh had raped her, non-consensually sexually touched her, refused to leave her alone and told her not to tell anybody.
Singh was then interviewed at Lewisham Police Station, where he denied having sexual contact with the girl altogether and was charged with raping her three times, attempting to rape her, and sexually assaulting her.
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The Judge at Woolwich Crown Court said the 34-year-old had failed to take accountability for his actions
PA/Google
The teenager had been accused of fabricating her story, and would have had been subject to cross-examination in court - but police managed to access Singh's phone before the trial, discovering messages which proved sexual contact had occurred.
In court, Singh pleaded guilty to engaging in what he said was "consensual" sexual activity with the girl.
Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams, speaking at Woolwich Crown Court, said the 34-year-old had failed to take accountability for his actions, and still poses a serious threat to children.
Williams said: "You still engage in a serious amount of misconceived blaming of the victim."
In the teenager's victim statement, she said she thinks about what happened to her "on a daily basis", and that Singh's abuse had changed her life in several ways.
Singh was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison on Friday - alongside an extended licence period of five years, owing to the threat he presents to children.
He must serve at least five years and eight months before he can apply for release - at which time he plans to return to India, where he lived until he was 20.
Singh will stay on the UK's sex offenders register for life.
