Former British Airways Pilot Kwame Yeboah Jailed for Rape and Grooming of Girl, 12

A former British Airways airline pilot has been sentenced to nine years and four months in prison for raping and grooming a 12-year-old girl whom he targeted and met through the social media platform Instagram.

Kwame Yeboah, 30, of Reading, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, having previously entered a guilty plea to all charges at a preliminary hearing on April 22, 2026.

The indictment filed against Yeboah consisted of three counts of rape of a child under the age of 13 and one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 by penetration, reflecting the absolute statutory framework that children under 13 completely lack the legal capacity to consent to any form of sexual activity.

The court heard that Yeboah first initiated online contact with the young victim in late 2025. Although the child initially told him she was 17 years old during their first ordinary exchanges, prosecutors detailed how the explicit nature of their subsequent messages, combined with the context of her conversations, made her true age undeniable.

Read more: Delivery Driver Jailed for Rape of Vulnerable Woman Outside Worthing Hospital

The victim frequently spoke to Yeboah about her school life and sent images of herself clearly dressed in her school uniform. Despite this clear indication of her youth, Yeboah systematically escalated the relationship by sending intimate digital images of himself and shifting their communication to an explicitly sexual nature.

He maintained contact by calling the victim approximately twice a week, intentionally grooming her into believing she was deeply important to him and that he cared for her welfare.

The grooming process culminated in February 2026, when Yeboah drove a significant distance from his home in Reading to Merseyside late in the evening to meet the child in person.

Upon arriving, he picked the victim up and drove her around the local area before intentionally navigating his vehicle to an isolated location.

Read more: Birmingham Parents Jailed After 12-Year-Old Son Dies From Untreated Type 1 Diabetes

It was there that Yeboah subjected the victim to a severe sexual assault and raped her three times. In subsequent interviews with specialist officers, the victim stated that she struggled to process what was occurring at the time, leaving her feeling profoundly nervous and confused.

Following the assaults, Yeboah drove the child back to the vicinity of the original pickup point, permitted her to leave the vehicle, and immediately drove away from the scene.

The criminal conduct was uncovered a few days later when a friend of the victim disclosed the details of the incident to the child's mother, who promptly contacted law enforcement.

Detectives from Merseyside Police launched an immediate investigation and rapidly identified Yeboah using the specific digital footprints and contact details he had left behind during his communications with the child.

Read more: Abdulmanon Aliev Jailed for Attempted Rape of Child on London Train

Following his arrest, Yeboah was subjected to a formal police interview where he maintained a strict "no comment" stance to every question posed by investigators before being officially charged.

Speaking directly after the sentencing conclusion, Senior Crown Prosecutor Thomas Hanlon, of the CPS Mersey-Cheshire Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, condemned the defendant's calculated behavior.

Hanlon stated that Yeboah would have known entirely early on in his contact with the child that she was not the age she had initially claimed, noting that her appearance upon meeting in person would have made it entirely obvious to any adult that she was a very young child.

The prosecutor emphasized that Yeboah was an adult man who deliberately abused his position and ruthlessly exploited a vulnerable child for his own sexual gratification in an isolated setting.

He concluded by paying tribute to the immense courage demonstrated by the young victim and her family, alongside praising the meticulous collaborative investigation executed by Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to secure a conviction.