A volunteer Metropolitan Police officer repeatedly told his alleged rape victim he “loved” her before sexually assaulting her on a 13th birthday trip in a West London park, a court has heard.
Amersham Law Courts heard on Wednesday that James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, had been speaking to the complainant “daily” over text and video call before the alleged attack. on Shepherd’s Bush Green.
The court heard the pair met on video chat site Omegle in 2018, when the complainant was 12 years old and the defendant was around 21, before meeting in person for the first time at a Christian festival a few months later.
Of their first encounter in person, Adrian Amer, defending, asked: “At the time of meeting, did you believe you were in a relationship?” Giving evidence, the witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, replied: “Yes I did, yes.”
Mr Amer asked: “What sort of relationship?” They replied: “An emotional, romantic relationship”, adding that she believed the defendant was her “boyfriend”.
The alleged victim said that at the time, the pair would speak every day, including on video call. “He’d tell me that he loved me, ‘good night’, every day,“ she added.
Of this first meeting, the witness said that although they did not tell the defendant their age, it would have been “evident”. She said: “I didn’t sound or look like a 17-year-old, I looked probably younger than I was.”
“I was dressing as a child,” she continued, and added that she had sent the defendant a photo of herself wearing a My Little Pony t-shirt. “I was acting like a child, I was a child,” she said.
The witness said Bubb assaulted her on Shepherd’s Bush Green while she was visiting London with her parents to celebrate her 13th birthday.
Of this alleged incident in 2019, Mr Amer asked the witness why she did not leave if she was uncomfortable.
“He was my boyfriend,” she replied.
“But he wasn’t your boyfriend, was he?” Mr Amer said.
“No, now I recognise him to be my abuser,” the witness said.
“I didn’t feel that I had any autonomy,” she added. “I didn’t have an understanding of consent.” She continued: “I firmly believed that James and I were in a mutual loving relationship and that’s what girlfriends and boyfriends do. “I was scared to speak out, I didn’t realise I could,” she added.
The defendant dabbed their eyes and shook their head at points whilst the witness was giving evidence. The 27-year-old has denied one count of rape in relation to one complainant, and two counts of rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of rape of a child under 13 and one count of assault by penetration in relation to the other complainant.
A not guilty verdict on one of the rape charges in relation to the second complainant was returned on Wednesday after the prosecution offered no evidence.
All charges are alleged to have taken place between January 1 2018 to April 2 2024.
The defendant, of High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, denies all charges.
The trial continues.
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