Locations
High Road, Epping, Essex, CM16
Description
A man who was arrested within minutes of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Epping has today been convicted of a series of offences.
Hadush Kebatu was arrested after we received reports of a man behaving inappropriately towards a teenage girl in High Road at 5.20pm on Tuesday 8 July.
As a result of the work of officers in the hours after the arrest, separate offences which took place on Monday 7 July were then reported for the first time and an investigation was launched.
Overnight, the 41-year-old, with an address in High Road, Epping, was charged.
He denied all offences during preliminary hearings and a three-day trial was held in Chelmsford and Colchester Magistrates’ Courts which finished today, Thursday 4 September.
The court heard that on 7 July Kebatu tried to kiss the teenage girl on a bench whilst also asking her to kiss him. He also made numerous sexually explicit comments.
The following afternoon, on 8 July, Kebatu encountered the same girl and again tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also made further sexually explicit comments despite being told the girl’s age and the fact that she was wearing her school uniform.
Shortly before this interaction, Kebatu had sexually assaulted and attempted to kiss an adult woman who had offered to help him create a CV to find work.
When she then saw Kebatu also interacting inappropriately with the teenage girl, she called 999 and he was quickly arrested.
Today, District Judge Christopher Williams found Kebatu guilty of:
- Two counts of sexual assault
- One count of attempted sexual assault
- One count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity
- One count of harassment without violence
Kebatu will be sentenced at a hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on 23 September.
District Judge Williams warned Kebatu he would be facing an immediate custodial sentence.