A former British Airways pilot who groomed a 12-year-old girl on social media, drove 200 miles to meet her, and raped her three times has been jailed for 9 years and 4 months. Kwame Yeboah, 30, a former England youth basketballer from Reading, Berkshire, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, June 24, after pleading guilty to three counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of sexual assault of a girl under 13.
Grooming and travel to Merseyside
Yeboah first contacted the victim online in late 2025. The girl initially told him she was 17, and their conversations started ordinarily. However, the messages quickly became sexual, and Yeboah sent intimate images of himself to the child. He called her about twice a week, making her believe she was important to him. The court heard that the nature of later messages and her appearance when they met in person would have made it clear to Yeboah that she was much younger and could not consent to any sexual activity.
In February 2026, Yeboah travelled approximately 200 miles from Reading to Merseyside to meet the girl late in the evening. He drove her around before taking her to an isolated location, where he raped her three times. After the assaults, he dropped her off close to where he had picked her up and drove away. The victim later told police she struggled to process what had happened and felt nervous and confused.
Investigation and prosecution
A few days after the rape, a friend of the victim informed the girl's mother, who reported the incident to police. Yeboah was identified using details he had given the child. When arrested and interviewed, he answered 'no comment' to all questions, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He was charged on April 22 and pleaded guilty to all charges.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Thomas Hanlon, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, said: 'Kwame Yeboah would have known early on in his contact with this child that she was not the age she initially claimed to be. She spoke about school and sent images of herself in school uniform. When he met her in person, it would have been obvious that she was a very young child. Despite this, Yeboah deliberately took her to an isolated location where he raped her three times. He groomed the victim into believing she was in a relationship with someone who cared about her. In reality, he was an adult man who abused his position and exploited her for his own sexual gratification.'
Sentence and restraining order
In addition to the 9-year and 4-month prison sentence, Yeboah will serve a further one year on licence and be subject to a 15-year restraining order. Detective Constable Roxana Tusa from CCSET said: '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.'
Detective Constable Tusa added: '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.'
