A Ghanian sexual predator, Kofi Nana-Agyemang-Prempeh, attended a birthday party at a South Croydon Church hall on 4th August 2018. Also attending the celebration was a 12 year old girl, half his age, who attended alone with parental consent, as it was presumed she would be safe amongst fellow church goers.

The girl ended up staying later than agreed and when she went to leave at 9pm, Prempeh, of Mitcham, followed her outside whilst drinking a bottle of beer, and attempted to persuade her to stay longer.

Around 10pm she departed to walk home and Prempeh offered to accompany her, taking her a route that went through a public park near Leighton Street, South Croydon.

At the Park Prempeh overpowered the child and pushing her into some bushes, forced himself on her, driven by an impulse for sexual gratification. Ignoring her shouts of protest, and pleas for him to stop, he pulled up her dress, touched her breasts and pulling her underwear down raped the young girl twice stopping once he had relieved himself in her.

The victim, in floods of tear elicited no sympathy from the Ghanian who brusquely told her to stop crying and shouted “No more crying”[1]. He also threatened not to tell anyone about what he had done to her. She then arrived back home at midnight and pretended to her mother she was OK. However she was terrified of her life being ruined by becoming pregnant as a teenager, following forced sexual intercourse.

Three months later she confided in a cousin who let her parents know about the rape of their daughter.

Police then arrested Prempeh who denied rape. After the trial began and the victim had given evidence Prempeh changed his plea to guilty.

At the sentencing on August 12th 2022, Judge Elizabeth Smaller said to Prempeh:

‘How you can have gone from a young man with no history with the police to raping a child is difficult to fathom. It involved a considerable degree of violence in a public park late at night.

‘She spent a period of time terrified she was pregnant and that must have added to the terror this young girl felt and she says there is not a day that goes by that what you did does not interfere with her life and she is still in counselling.

‘I find you do pose a risk to young females and it is necessary to protect the public from you.’[2]

Judge Smaller sentenced him to thirteen-and-a-half years in prison and extended the licence period following his release by four years.[4]