A pedophile hid out in a 12 year old girls room in her Cambridgeshire home and had sex with her for two days. The whole time the girl’s parents were downstairs and completely oblivious to the attacks taking place upstairs.
Leigh Arendse, 25, met the girl online in an internet chat room. Arendse travelled to the girls home to meet the child.
While hidden in the girls room, the two of them spent 48 hours watching DVD’s and having sex. Arendse would hide behind the bedroom door when her mother would come to check in on her.
Arendse reportedly claimed that he thought the girl was 14. He insists he didn’t find out her true age until her mother came upstairs to yell at her daughter for smoking in her room.
According to reports, Leigh Arendse left the house and took the young girl with him when he returned to London. When the parents realized their daughter was missing, they contacted the police.
The prosecutor Sara Walker told the Cambridge Crown Court, “The defendant stayed in the victim’s room where the two watched DVD’s. The next evening, her mum came up and he hid behind the door”
“Her mum was appalled at the mess and said that her daughter shouldn’t be smoking at the age of 12. The defendant then found out that she was indeed 12.”
Walker went on to say, “The victim said she started to kiss him and that he initially pushed her off. She then tried to kiss him again and he kissed her back before they had sex.”
Arendse’s defense attorney, David McIntosh insists that when his client found out the girl’s true age, he was in “shock”. McIntosh also claims that “She was the one who insisted on following him to London and in his defense he didn’t want her to come with him.”
Detective Constable Andy McDonald said, “Arendse was clearly aware that the girl in this case was underage but continued his contact with her and arranged to meet up. He has plenty of opportunities to stop the relationship but chose to travel to meet her to have sex.”
“This case shows the dangers of using online chat rooms and how easily perpetrators can gain the confidence of young people in order to exploit them.”
While appearing in court, Judge Jonathan Haworth told Arendse, “This is not a case of an 18 or 19 year old. You are a mature adult.”
“You had been in her bedroom when you knew that members of her family were also in the house. There was a sheer irresponsibility on your part when you failed to find out her real age.”
Arendse was convicted after he admitted to two counts of rape on the girl. He was handed a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16.
The order also forbids him from possessing any device capable of accessing the internet and was placed on the sex offenders’ registry.
In addition, Leigh Arendse was jailed on a four year sentence.
Be sure to check out Kelly’s other columns:
Austin Beauty Examiner
National Family and Parenting Examiner
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