Doug Richard, the former Dragon's Den star and one-time business adviser to David Cameron, paid a 13-year-old girl for sex after meeting her on a "sugar daddy" website, a court has heard.
The 57-year-old American-born entrepreneur and millionaire allegedly arranged for two teenage schoolgirls to travel from their homes in Norwich to London, where he spanked and had sex with the younger one.
Mr Richard, who appeared in the first two series of the popular BBC show, has a long association with the Prime Minister having penned a report into the state of small business when the Tories were in opposition.
He also accompanied Mr Cameron on a trade mission to Southern Africa in 2011.
On the opening day of his trial at the Old Bailey on Monday, the jury heard that Mr Richard had made contact with the girls via an American website called "Seeking Arrangements", which offered to connect "sugar daddies" and "sugar babies".
Gino Connor, prosecuting, said Mr Richard, who is married with three children, described himself on the website as a "sugar daddy".
A deleted iChat conversation between Mr Richard and the 13-year-old, which was retrieved by the police, revealed how he persuaded her to travel from her home in Norwich in January last year.
In one conversation, he asked her: "Are you free to come to London after school?"
When she replied that it was difficult, Mr Richard allegedly responded: "Ok I will make a deal with you. I will wait for the following week if you send me those photos you promised."
He told her he wanted pictures of her in a "submissive pose", telling her: "On your hands and knees so I can see you helpless and exposed."
After sending him pictures, he told her he was "horny".
The court heard that the girls agreed to travel to London on January 2 last year and Mr Richard paid them £120 via a PayPal account.
After collecting them from the Norwich train, they visited a nearby cafe before Mr Richard suggested they go "somewhere private".
The court was told that he had asked them how old they were and they had lied and told him they were 16 and 17.
He then took them to an apartment he had rented in nearby Bishopsgate, where he asked the girls if they wanted to be his slaves.
The jury heard that the 15-year-old had kissed him, but had pulled away telling him she was not interested because he was "horrible and smoky". But the younger girl had agreed to have sex with him.
Mr Connor told the jury: "The defendant told the girl to remove her items of clothing one by one. She was compliant and undressed completely until naked. He told her to remove his clothing which she did. This included his trousers and boxer shorts.
"He told her to get on her hands and knees in front of him. She said she would rather be spanked first and lay across his lap. He spanked her on about seven occasions."
The jury was told that the 13-year-old then performed a sex act in front of the other girl before they went into an adjoining bedroom where it is alleged they had sex.
Mr Richard then gave the girls £60 each and called them a taxi so they could go shopping at a branch of American Apparel.
The girls returned to Norwich later that day and, after asking Mr Richard for more money, received another £120 via PayPal. But the mother of one of the girls called the police after becoming suspicious about a deposit in her daughter's bank account.
Mr Richard was arrested in the early hours of January 5 last year at the Lord Milner Hotel in Westminster.
After being cautioned, he told the officer: "As you can see I am in a lot of trouble."
He then asked the officer: "Can I ask you a hypothetical question? What if I thought she was over 16 but she was in fact under 16?"
When told he needed to discuss it with his lawyer, Mr Richard said: "Under 16, wow."
Mr Richard denies three counts of sexual activity with a child, one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of paying for the sexual services of a child. The trial continues.
No comments:
Post a Comment