Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A takeaway worker from Iran who claimed asylum in Britain has gone on to groom 18 schoolgirls for sexual abuse

Foot fetishist Homayon Narouzzad, 33, who had claimed that he was fleeing persecution in Iran, targeted children as young as 12. Paying them as little as £5 to take part in sex acts centered around feet in his flat above the takeaway, the fitness fanatic afterwards gave them star ratings when he stored their numbers in his mobile. The case is the latest to highlight a trend of foreign men frequently from Asian backgrounds systematically grooming predominantly white schoolgirls for abuse. While the victims are often from vulnerable backgrounds, the girls targeted by Narouzzad – who has been jailed for four years – were mainly from stable homes. Narouzzad arrived in Britain in 2000 and began working at a takeaway in Whitefield, near Manchester, living in an apartment above it. He was finally granted leave to remain in Britain in 2010 but by then he was already exploiting girls for abuse. In exchange for free food and cash, he would get the girls – many still dressed in their school uniforms – to let him kiss their feet or perform sex acts upon him. They were paid from as little as £5 up to around £90 depending on the kind of abuse they would submit to. Narouzzad has pleaded guilty to 25 offences of sexual activity with a child at Bolton Crown Court. Recently a report by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center found a disproportionate number of Asian men were behind street grooming offences. It found that out of 2,379 offenders suspected of attempting to lure vulnerable victims, often using drugs and alcohol, 28% were Asian.

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