A former British Airways pilot has been jailed for raping a 12-year-old girl after meeting and grooming her on social media. In February, Kwame Yeboah, 30, a former England youth basketballer from Reading in Berkshire, travelled about 200 miles from Reading to Merseyside to meet the child late in the evening. He then drove her around before taking her to an isolated location and raped her three times.

He first made contact with the child online in late 2025, Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Wednesday June 24. She initially told him she was 17 and their conversations began ordinarily. However, the nature of later messages and her appearance when they met in person would have made it clear to him that she was much younger and could not consent to any sexual activity with him.

Yeboah sent the 12-year-old intimate images of himself and the conversations became increasingly sexual. He called her around two times a week making her believe she was important to him and that he cared about her.

After raping the child, Yeboah dropped her off close to where he picked her up from and drove away. The child later told police she struggled to process what was happening and was nervous and confused.

A few days later, a friend of the victim told her mother what had happened and it was reported to police. Yeboah was identified using the details he had given the child.

Yeboah answered “no comment” to all questions when he was arrested and interviewed, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

He was charged with three counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of sexual assault of a girl under 13. Yeboah pleaded guilty to all charges on April 22 and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today. He was sentenced to 9 years and 4 months imprisonment.

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.

“This case is the result of the courage shown by the victim and her family, and the careful work of Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.”

Yeboah will also serve a further one year on licence and be subject to a 15-year Restraining Order.

After the sentencing, 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. I want to thank them for their strength throughout our investigation. We do not underestimate how difficult it can be to report sexual offences, or how important it is that such despicable offenders are removed from the community.

“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.”