An asylum seeker posed as a 14-year-old boy on Snapchat before grooming and raping a 13-year-old Nottingham schoolgirl after school, a court has heard.
Abdul Khan, 28, is standing trial at Nottingham Crown Court charged with nine offences, including rape, sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following grooming, sexual activity with a child and perverting the course of justice. The Daily Mail has reported that Khan denies all the charges.
Prosecutor Kevin Jones told jurors that the alleged offences began after the teenager received a Snapchat friend request from someone using the name "Abs." According to the prosecution, the girl told the account she was 14 years old and was told the sender was also 14. The pair exchanged messages before arranging to meet after school on May 14 last year.
The court heard the teenager met Khan at a tram stop but was surprised when he did not resemble the person shown in the Snapchat photographs. Jurors were told the pair briefly visited a friend's house before leaving together, with Khan allegedly suggesting they go to Scout Wood Nature Reserve in Clifton. During the journey, prosecutors allege he attempted to kiss the girl.
Mr Jones told the court that once inside the woodland, the asylum seeker allegedly began unbuttoning the girl's trousers and instructed her to lie on the ground. The prosecutor said the teenager complied because she was "trying not to panic" before Khan allegedly raped her.
The court heard the girl returned home alone but initially did not tell her father what had happened. After an argument, she reportedly messaged a friend saying she had been raped before later disclosing the allegation to her father. Prosecutors told the jury that forensic examination of the girl's school trousers identified DNA which allegedly matched Khan.
The court also heard Khan was later arrested by Derbyshire Police on an unrelated matter involving sexual communication with a child. Prosecutors said he has admitted that separate offence, and that examination of his mobile phone allegedly uncovered Snapchat messages exchanged with the Nottingham complainant.
According to the prosecution, Khan told police he entered the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry in 2015 and provided a date of birth of December 26, 2004 as part of an asylum application. The court heard that during a police interview conducted under caution, Khan claimed he was nearly 16 years old and denied the allegations, telling officers he had never had sex before.
Khan is being assisted throughout the trial by a Pashto interpreter.
