A Bangladeshi man has been jailed for raping a 12-year-old girl and grooming a nine-year-old.
Tarek Miah, 20, groomed the children using social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok before sexually abusing them.
Prosecutors said the paedophile may have had a hostile attitude towards young girls due to his culture – and lacked “English morals”.
Miah pleaded guilty to eight charges at Portsmouth Crown Court – including four counts of raping a child under the age of 13 – and was jailed for 15 years.
Miah – who moved to Britain as a child – described his vile abuse as a “silly mistake”, insisting it was simply “typical experimentation” for a man of his age.
In court, both of the victims’ mothers described their daughters as having their “innocence destroyed” and “self-worth decimated”.
Prosecutor Steven Molloy said: “His culture may affect his attitude towards female children… But he moved here when he was three, so he should have – as the probation report calls it – English moral values and laws.”
Miah’s first victim, an autistic 12-year-old girl, was described as having a “mental age lower than her chronological age”.
The paedophile first began talking to the girl on Snapchat and TikTok in August 2023.
Miah pleaded guilty to eight charges – including four counts of raping a child under the age of 13
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SUSSEX POLICE
Despite the victim telling Miah how old she was, he insisted that the pair should meet face-to-face.
In a statement, the victim told the court: “Since this happened, my life has changed in ways I’m still struggling to cope with.
“I get flashbacks even when I’m at school, which makes school impossible. He picked me up from school, and since then I’ve not felt safe returning.
My sense of safety has been badly affected. For six months, I needed my mum to sleep outside my room.
“I couldn’t sleep in my bed and needed to sleep on the floor with my head against the door.I feel anxious and scared something could happen. I’m scared I might see him again.
The paedophile was jailed for 15 years at Portsmouth Crown Court
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PA“I worry about my future. It’s changed the way I see the world, and it’s something I will carry with me every day. It has affected my childhood, my life and education.”
The 20-year-old’s second victim was just nine years old when he began grooming her online in May 2024.
He bombarded the child with sexually explicit videos of himself and demanded she sent similar messages to him.
Her statement to the court said: “It’s affected me a bit because I haven’t gone to dance because I’m really sad. It’s made me not want to do my favourite hobby, which makes me really sad.
“I’ve been a bit down at school. I want to leave and be around my mummy because she’s my emotional partner.
Miah first began talking to the girl on Snapchat and TikTok in August 2023
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PA“I still don’t know why I didn’t tell anybody. He was inappropriate with me and used inappropriate language. It would be nice if the judge would remind him that that isn’t ok.”
Her mother told the court that her daughter was “not the same child she once was”.
“She describes herself as lonely since the incident. It’s heartbreaking as a mum seeing your child’s innocence destroyed and self-worth decimated while so young.”
In addition to the multiple counts of rape, he was also charged with causing a child to watch a sexual act, causing a child to engage in sexual acts and making indecent photographs.
After his arrest, officers seized his devices and discovered illegal images and “search terms indicative of a sexual interest in children”, jurors were told.
Alongside the jail term, Miah was handed down an 18-year restraining order from his victims, blocking him from making contact with them.