The former England youth basketball international sexually abused a 12-year-old girl after grooming her via Instagram
13:25, 24 Jun 2026Updated 13:29, 24 Jun 2026
Kwame Yeboah, of Drake Way in Reading, aged 30(Image: Merseyside Police)
A British Airways pilot drove hundreds of miles in his Mercedes in order to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl after grooming her via social media. Former England youth basketball international Kwame Yeboah met his victim on video chatroom Omegle before exchanging a series of explicit messages and calls with her via Instagram.
This led to him travelling to the Wirral area from his home in the south of England in order to meet up with the schoolgirl. He then checked into a hotel on Merseyside before twice raping the youngster in his car.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Wednesday, that the complainant’s mum told Merseyside Police how she had learned from one of the girl’s friends that her child had been speaking to a man online and later had sex with him.
Louise McCloskey, prosecuting, described how the mother had been informed that the male in question was aged in his 30s and drove a black Mercedes, with his number having been saved under a false name in her daughter’s phone. When subsequently spoken to by police, the victim was “initially dismissive” but went on to tell her mum in the presence of PCs: “I don’t know why you had to tell the police. It’s not like I’ve been raped or anything.”
After being told that she could have needed emergency contraception if any sexual activity had taken place, she then went on to add: “No, I’m not getting it. I’ll keep the baby.”
However, she later confirmed to detectives that she and Yeboah, of Drake Way in Reading, had met on Omegle, a website where participants engage in video calls with randomly selected strangers, around three months previously. The 30-year-old then followed her on Instagram, where they exchanged sexualised pictures and messages and had video calls with one another.
While she had initially told Yeboah that she was 17, she later sent him pictures of her in her school uniform and referred to being grounded in their communications. When she stated that she could not meet up with him after requests, he replied with emotionally manipulative messages including: “I can’t do this no more, because you’re not meeting me. I can’t call because it makes me sad, because I can’t see you.”
This led to Yeboah travelling to the Wirral and booking a hotel room in the area. She then climbed out of a window at her home in order to meet him in his car nearby, giving him a hug before he told her: “You’re dainty, aren’t you?”
Yeboah subsequently drove them around for a period of time until he asked to “go to a car park and do stuff”, telling her that he was “horny”. Having stopped his vehicle, he then touched her sexually before raping her.
When apparently disturbed by another car pulling up alongside them, Yeboah drove to a second location where he instructed her to perform a sex act on him and raped her for a second time. He later messaged the girl after “becoming anxious about her obtaining the morning after pill”, telling her: “You lied to me. They would have asked you a bunch of questions before they gave it to you.”
At this, she replied: “I just don’t want you to be mad at me. I love you. I wouldn’t lie to you. Don’t text for a bit, social services are at my house.”
Yeboah has no previous convictions. Richard Pratt KC, defending, told the court: “In her victim personal statement, she refers to nightmares in which the defendant is blaming her for the impact on his own life. Nothing could be further from the truth. He has, throughout his time in custody, fully accepted that all that happened to him, let alone what happened to her, was his fault and his alone.
“Your honour knows, for personal reasons, he made the grave error of seeking comfort by contact with social media. She accepted that she told him she was 17. He, for his part, accepted that and accepts, with hindsight, there were plain warnings signs that she was younger than that.
“He was born in Ghana. He still retains strong links with his heritage there and with the Ghanaian community in the UK. He is a dedicated member of what is plainly a very loving and supportive family. Your honour will have noticed, in the public gallery, relatives including his mother and partner and other family members and friends, such is the level of support they have for him.
“Each of them, in their references to the court, have acknowledged the gravity of what he has done. They recognise the stupidity, the awfulness, of what he did, but also can inform the court as to his likely future conduct and his reaction to these matters.
“He is an extremely talented basketball player. He represented England at youth level and is also a referee in the sport. He trained as a first officer in British Airways. He is described by colleagues as always remaining grounded, despite his achievements.
“It is a matter of great sadness that someone who has achieved so much, not just in his job, but also in the love and affection so many people have for him, that he can have behaved in way he did. As he has recognised, his actions have caused him to lose so much and have caused not only harm to [the victim] and her family, but also to those close to him.”
Yeboah admitted three counts of rape of a child under 13 and assault of a child under 13 by penetration. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for eight years and four months and given an additional year on licence.
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall said: “She was 12 years of age. She did initially tell you that she was 17 years of age and provided information, when communicating with you, which might be said to tentatively be consistent with that assertion. She also engaged in sexualised chat.
“However, during those conversations and those message exchanges, she sent you images of herself in her school uniform. She referred to being at school and not being an adult. She referred to tests she was sitting. There was chat about her not being allowed out and her sexual inexperience. All of this was indicative of her true age.
“Given the significant disparity in age between you, and the combined effect of all of the evidence available to you regarding her age, your initial belief that she was over 16 years of age provides little mitigation. You are an older man, someone who has volunteered with children, and a professional.
“During the course of that communication, sexually explicit photographs and videos were exchanged. There were highly sexualised messages sent by you. The language you used was extremely sexualised, referring to explicit sexual acts you wanted to engage in.
“You pursued a desire to meet with her. I am satisfied, in the context of what you knew about the person you were communicating with, that was language designed to emotionally blackmail and manipulate this young girl. Eventually, you were successful. It appears, reluctantly, she agreed meet with you.
“You had to travel from Reading. You booked a hotel room for the two of you. You agreed to collect her in your car. She had to sneak out of her home to meet you. You described being horny and wanted to stop somewhere to do stuff. You only stopped, it seems, because another vehicle pulled alongside yours. You then drove to a second location.
“She describes how what happened with you has changed every part of her life. It has damaged her confidence. She has trouble sleeping and eating and is constantly on edge. She has feelings of guilt, anger, confusion and shame. She no longer feels comfortable in her own body. Her schooling has also been affected, with problems concentrating.
“I have read and taken into account the pre-sentence report, the very many detailed references and your letter to me. You sought to blame this offending on various personal issues, including a lack of intimacy with your partner and the impact of a health condition.
“You say it was planned. It was not unplanned. You maintained to the probation officer that you believed she was 17 years of age, although having some suspicions. You described using social media and the internet for contact with females, again of a sexual nature. There is no suggestion of seeking out children.
“You were a talented basketball player. You went on to study at university before you self funded training to be a pilot and secured employment for a large commercial airline. References speak about your positive attributes, your strong work ethic, your charitable and voluntary work over many years.
“All of that is entirely inconsistent and out of character with the way you behaved towards her. You have shown remorse for what you have done and reflected on your life choices. You are seeking to use your time in custody positively.
“There was clearly some grooming behaviour. You sought to manipulate or emotionally blackmail your victim in the context of meeting up for sexual acts. There was also a degree of planning, given the travelling of some distance from Reading to Liverpool, booking a hotel and making arrangements to meet. This offending involves two separate occasions of sexual activity. Each of those involved two serious types of sexual assault.”
Yeboah was also handed a restraining order which will ban him from contacting his victim for 15 years. He will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
Detective Constable Roxana Tusa said following the hearing: “Our investigation has proved that Yeboah is a dangerous sexual offender who will now begin a significant jail sentence for his abhorrent crimes. After contacting his victim online, he groomed her and then travelled to Merseyside in order to abuse her, admitting his guilt only when confronted with the case against him.
“We hope that the swift identification and prosecution of Yeboah does at least offer some comfort to the victim and her family moving forward. I want to thank them for their strength throughout our investigation.
“We do not underestimate how difficult it can be to report sexual offences or how important it is that such despicable offenders are removed from the community. Merseyside Police is completely committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse and from those who seek to do them harm.
“I would like to take this opportunity to stress that if you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, then please come forward and report this to police or our partners. We take all such reports extremely seriously and have specially trained officers, who will treat you with sensitivity and compassion every step of the way.”