A Kenyan citizen has been jailed for 28 years by a United Kingdom Court for grooming and raping a young girl in the Inner London borough of Hackey.
Anthony Maina, 52, was sentenced on Thursday after being found guilty of 17 offences, among them seven counts of rape.
The London Evening Standard reports that the court was given details of how Maina bought the girl gifts, clothing, food and mobile phones to win her trust and groom her.
The pedophile called the minor “his girl” and his “best friend in the universe”, and would regularly accuse her of having “neglected” him if she did not maintain contact.
He also would ask her to come to his property under false pretenses, such as to receive a parcel or let some workmen in, and would then abuse her, the newspaper reports.
The 52-year-old would compel her family to force her to go to his house by suggesting she was being unhelpful whenever she began to challenge his advances.
The girl reported Maina to her local police station in December 2018 and a probe was launched.
An investigating officer told the court that Maina’s crimes were some of the most “vile and despicable psychological manipulation and sexual abuse I have ever encountered. It is sickening to think that individuals like Maina exist.”
