Four men have been jailed for 30 years for plying a 16-year-old runaway girl from Brighton with cocaine and prostituting her.
They were sentenced to between 5 and 14 years in prison by Judge Richard Hayward at Hove Crown Court this afternoon (Monday 30 March).
All four denied forcing the girl in prostitution but were found guilty on Friday (27 March) after a three-week trial. They were
- Stephen Daramola, 48, of Park Lane, Eastbourne
- Mohammed Kamali, 46, of Harper Rd, Newhaven
- Khosrow Sobhanieh, 56, of North Lane, Guestling, near Hastings
- Christopher Kayla-Joseph, 27, of Elphick Road, Newhaven
Daramola was jailed for six years for causing or inciting a 16-year-old child into prostitution, supplying her with cocaine and sexual assault.
Kamali was jailed for five years for causing or inciting a 16-year-old child into prostitution and supplying cocaine.
Sobhanieh was jailed for 14 years for conspiring to incite a 16-year-old child into prostitution, one offence of rape, one of attempted rape and having a firearm.
Kayla-Joseph was jailed for five years for conspiring to incite a 16-year-old child into prostitution and supplying her and a 14-year-old friend with cocaine.
All four men were made the subject of registered sex offender orders. When they are released from prison, each will be given sexual offenders prevention orders for life, severely restricting their contact with young people.
Judge Hayward accepted that Daramola and Kamali had mental health problems.
He said: “This was the most dreadful abuse of a vulnerable girl for sexual gratification.”
They were charged last May after a 12-month investigation.
Two other men were acquitted by the jury at Hove.
- Khalid Del-Rosario, 45, of Upperton Road, Eastbourne, was found not guilty of conspiring to incite a 16-year-old child into prostitution, sexual assault and being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
- Giuseppe Carella, 19, of Brighton Road, Newhaven, was found not guilty of conspiring to incite a 16-year-old child into prostitution, rape and being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
The judge commended the investigating officers for their work on the case.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark O’Brien said on Friday: “This is a landmark case, sending a clear message that anyone who sets out to exploit vulnerable young people in this way can expect to be subject to investigation and can be brought to justice.
“We also wish to pay tribute to the girl herself, whose evidence, resolutely given with the help of special measures including a screen protecting her from the defendants’ view, was key in ensuring this outcome.
“We also thank the Crown Prosecution Service, and prosecution counsel Richard Barton, for their hard work and the professional and compelling way in which the case was presented.”
The girl, who was 16 years old when the offences were committed, has since turned 18.
Sussex Police said: “The young, impressionable and vulnerable girl’s ordeal started in Eastbourne one evening in May 2013 when she was sitting alone in a street, having made her way there by bus after a family disagreement at her Brighton home.
“Kayla-Joseph spotted her, engaged her in conversation and invited her back to his flat in Newhaven where he had sexual intercourse with her.
“There, when she visited on several separate occasions over the next two weeks, Kayla-Joseph and then the five other men, all but one far older than her, ruthlessly exploited her for their own sexual purposes, plying her with drink and drugs, and one occasion cash was paid for her sexual services.
“On a final occasion she was taken round the corner to Kamali’s flat in Harper Road where the same happened.
“Soon afterwards the girl disclosed what had happened to health workers and to her family. Police were immediately informed and the men were swiftly arrested.”
