A MIGRANT has been jailed for 12 months for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl after he invited her back to his Epping hotel to “make babies”.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, put his hand on the teen’s thigh, tried to kiss her, and told her he wanted to marry her while she was in her school uniform.
PAHadush Kebatu has been jailed for sexual assault[/caption]
BPMHe was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping at the time[/caption]
The Ethiopian migrant, who previously worked as a teacher, carried out the attacks just eight days after arriving in Britain on a small boat.
Kebatu was living at the controversial Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which has been at the centre of a landmark court battle.
The sex attack sparked mass anti-immigration protests across the country, with frustrated Brits demanding that asylum hotels be emptied.
Kebatu, who was assisted by a Tigrinya interpreter in court, has now been jailed after he was convicted of five charges including sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl and inciting her to engage in sexual activity.
Prosecutor Stuart Cowen today said that as part of a pre-sentence report, Kebatu had said he did “feel a lot of remorse” but said he “did not know the UK was so strict.”
He did know the age of consent was “18 in Ethiopia”.
He was also found guilty of attempting to sexually assault the teen, harassment without violence and sexually assaulting a woman who had stepped in to help.
In a victim impact statement, the girl said she is now “checking over my shoulder” when she is out with friends.
She continued: “Every time I go out with my friends, I’m checking over my shoulder.
“Wearing a skirt now makes me feel vulnerable and exposed.”
She added: “Seeing the bench (where the sexual assault took place) reminds me of everything that happened.
“I’m aware there have been protests because of what has happened – I’m lucky that I was not in the country when that happened.”
The member of the public who was sexually assaulted by Kebatu said the defendant “did not even appear to know that what he’s done was wrong”.
In her victim personal statement, the woman said: “Since the incident, I feel both angered and frustrated.
“He did not even appear to know that what he’s done was wrong.
“The incident has left me feeling worried to leave my house. I think about this incident most nights before bed.”
At his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, the defendant’s lawyer Molly Dyas said it is Kebatu’s “firm wish” to be deported – a view he held “before the trial”.
Prosecutor Stuart Cowen said Kebatu had told the author of a pre-sentence report that “because of the situation, Epping is in chaos and he had got a lot of migrants in trouble”.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court was told the girl was sitting eating pizza with friends when they were approached by Kebatu, who “appeared hungry”.
Prosecutor Stuart Cowen said: “They offered him some which he accepted. He sat down next to [the alleged victim] on the bench and it is said that without any encouragement he began to make inappropriate comments to her and a girlfriend.
“It is the crown’s case that he said he wanted to have a baby with each of them and attempted to kiss them.
“He invited them back to the Bell Hotel where he was resident, having recently arrived in the UK.”
The girl made clear she was aged just 14 as she “rejected his advances”.
But Kebatu told her and her friends: “You can come back to the hotel with me we can make lovely babies and have sex.”
He also made a string of other creepy comments – including telling the teen: “Come back to Africa, you would be a good wife”.
The victim told the court she kept telling him how old she was but it “wasn’t getting into his head”.
She added: “He told us as well that in his country it is normal to marry 14-year-olds.”
One youngster who witnessed the sexual assault said the migrant boasted he had “paid about 2,500 euro to get on a rubber dinghy to come to our country”.
The next day, on July 8, Kebatu made a similar approach but this time the victim was wearing her school uniform.
A female member of the public intervened and Kebatu also sexually assaulted her by trying to kiss her, putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty.
Footage released by police showed the moment the fiend was arrested after the woman called police.
Kebatu could be seen weeping as he was taken from the back of a police car and handcuffed.
During his evidence, he denied trying to kiss the girl and claimed: “I’m not a wild animal”.
He added: “I can’t do these kind of things. These are children, new generation.”
Kebatu said the woman who also accused him of sexual assault told him, “You are handsome, I want you to come to my home”.
It comes after Epping Forest District Council previously won a bid at the High Court to block migrants from being housed at the hotel.
The temporary injunction meant that the building had to be cleared of its occupants by September 12.
It also caused a ripple effect across the UK as more councils launched their own bids to boot migrants out of hotels in their towns.
But the Court of Appeal last week overturned the injunction following an appeal by the Home Office and hotel owners Somani – meaning the migrants can stay where they are for now.
A further hearing will come in October still after Epping Council accused the hotel of operating unlawfully.
PAKebatu wept as he was arrested by police[/caption]
PAThe attack sparked protests across the UK[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
