An Afghan asylum seeker who groomed and raped a 13-year-old girl after pretending to be a boy her age on Snapchat has been sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.
Abdul Khan attacked the girl at a nature reserve in Clifton, Nottingham, on 14 May last year after using the messaging app to arrange to meet her in woodland.
Following a four-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court, Khan was convicted of two counts of rape, one count of sexual activity with a child, sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following grooming and perverting the course of justice.
Khan, who is believed to be 28, had presented himself to the girl on Snapchat as a 14-year-old boy.
When the pair met in person and it became apparent that he was not 14, the court heard that Khan attempted to appease the girl by claiming instead that he was 16.
There was initially activity which jurors found had been consensual. Khan then twice raped the girl.
The victim subsequently told her father what had happened and he contacted police.
Sentencing Khan on Monday, Judge Mark Watson said he had deliberately deceived the child about who he was.
“You deliberately concealed your true identity. She thought she was communicating with a child of her own age,” the judge told him.
“It was a lie you have persisted with throughout these proceedings.”
Prosecutor Dawn Pritchard read a victim personal statement to the court detailing the effect the attack had had on the girl.
The victim said she felt numb when thinking about how she had felt at the time.
Pritchard told the court that the girl had felt “scared of the world” following the attack and had been overwhelmed by what happened.
“When she has flashbacks, she sees his face and what happened. She feels like she can’t trust anyone,” the prosecutor said while summarising the statement.
Judge Watson said the victim had been profoundly affected by the offences and that her parents must also have been affected.
Khan arrived in the UK concealed in the back of a lorry in 2015, the court heard.
He is currently held at HMP Nottingham and was already serving a 23-month sentence for sexual communication with a different child in Derbyshire.
Defence barrister Andrew Wesley told the court he was unable to put forward any personal mitigation for Khan because the defendant continued to dispute the identity and age under which he had been prosecuted.
Judge Watson rejected Khan’s claims concerning his identity and age, describing them as “nonsensical” and bound to fail.
The judge told Khan that his sentence would result in automatic deportation. The court heard he faces deportation to Afghanistan after serving two-thirds of his prison term.
Khan covered his face with his hands as he left the dock.
He was also ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely.