Pair sexually abused 13 schoolgirls, jury told

Osman Koroma, 30, and Max N’Gasa, 24, allegedly bought the underage girls cigarettes and alcohol from the shops on the parade where they used to hang out after school before sexually assaulting them, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Jurors were told on one occasion Koroma, now of Norton Road, Hove, had sex with a girl under 16 on the roof of a local supermarket, while on another occasion N’Gasa, of Cranmer Avenue, Hove, raped a girl in a park after she had taken cocaine, mephedrone and cannabis.

Koroma, who at the time of the alleged offences lived in Wick Parade, Littlehampton, had been diagnosed as HIV positive several years earlier, but none of the complainants have been infected, the court heard.

Koroma, a labourer, 30, of Norton Road, Hove, faces eight charges against six girls: two rapes, five sexual assaults and one offence of sexual activity with a child.

His alleged offences were committed between 2011 and 2014 when the complainants were aged between 13 and 15.

N’Gasa, a gardener, has been charged with 16 offences against nine girls: two of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted sexual assault and eight of sexual activity with a child.

His alleged offences were committed between 2010 and 2012 when the victims were aged between 13 and 16.

Both men deny all the offences, which are said to have taken place at Koroma’s flat in Littlehampton and other addresses in the area, as well as parks and an abandoned house.

Prosecuting at the start of their trial yesterday in Lewes Crown Court, Jennifer Knight said: “Each of the girls met the defendants mostly at Wick Parade which was a popular place at the time for teenagers to meet and hang out together.

“N’Gasa would often be outside Koroma’s flat and they would frequently offer to buy cigarettes or alcohol.

“In that way both these defendants got to know young girls and ingratiated themselves with them, grooming them.”

She told jurors: “The complainants, as you will hear, describe a range of different sexual assaults occurring.

“Some described consensual activity within what they considered to be relationships, though they were children at the time. Others describe sexual assault and others described being raped.”

A headteacher first raised concerns about men “hanging around Wick Parade providing drugs and alcohol to teenage girls” in 2012, the court heard.

Ms Knight added: “She referred to police and social services.

“Some of the complainants were spoken to in 2012 but the scale did not become known until 2014 when the headteacher heard that a new, younger group of teenage girls were spending time at Wick Parade and she once again heard this defendant mentioned.”

The two men were arrested in March this year and deny all charges. Koroma denies knowing the girls at all, while N’Gasa admitted knowing some. The trial is expected to last six weeks.

TEENAGER TELLS HOW SHE FEARED SHE WOULD BE RAPED

SITTING in the park on a cold evening, a 14-year-old girl pushed away Osman Koroma when he started to put his hands under her clothing, jurors were told.

She later told police she was “disgusted” at his move, but worse was to come one evening when she and a friend joined him on a supermarket roof next to his flat in Wick Parade, Littlehampton, the court heard.

Koroma bought some vodka which they drank before he pulled down his trousers and started to have sex with the 14-year-old after telling her that was what he wanted to do, prosecutor Jennifer Knight said.

She felt “under pressure” she later recalled in a tearful interview with police played yesterday to the jury, adding that she did not feel she had a choice. Known to many local teenage girls as ‘Ossie’ and ‘Maxie’ who could be relied upon for cigarettes and alcohol, Osman Koroma, 30, and Max N’Gasa, 24, sat impassively in the dock at Lewes Crown Court yesterday as they were accused of sexually abusing 13 girls between them.

It normally started with casual meetings in Wick Parade, Littlehampton, where Koroma lived with his wife and son.

He would invite the underage girls in after buying them alcohol, prosecutors said.

N’Gasa also had sex more than once with Koroma’s alleged victim from the roof, jurors were told, telling her he wanted her to have his baby.

One friend thought the men were “a bit dodgy” from the start and recalled telling Koroma to stay away from her, jurors heard.

“She recalled him asking whether she thought he was going to rape her,” prosecutor Jennifer Knight said, “and she said that was her fear, and he said she was much too pretty for that.  “That remark troubled her.”

The second of 13 alleged victims remembered first going to Koroma’s flat when she was 14 or 15, jurors were told, and being handed a rum and coke.

“She sat on the sofa feeling rather awkward,” prosecutor Ms Knight said.

But one evening she ended up in a local park with the defendants and other friends, the court heard, where N’Gasa tried to kiss her and to put his hand down her trousers.

Another girl was first invited to Koroma’s flat when she turned 14, where she drank until she was “very drunk” and Koroma raped her in his bed, the court heard.

One evening in 2012 a further alleged victim went with friends and N’Gasa to an abandoned house in Littlehampton, the court heard.

N’Gasa raped her in a nearby park while she was heavily under the influence of drugs she bought earlier after selling him her camera for £20, prosecutors said.

“She said she knew they were going to have sex as he had taken her far away,” Ms Knight said. “Or rather she knew that something was going to happen but she did not know what it was.

“She did not know whether he was going to kill her or just wanted to have sex with her.

“She said she didn’t want to start shouting or causing any problems as they were alone and it was 2am.”

The girls picked the men out of an ID parade after a head teacher raised concerns to police and social services for the second time in two years, jurors were told.

Arrested and interviewed in March of this year, both men denied all the offences.  Koroma denies knowing the girls and said school girls had never visited his flat, while N’Gasa accepted having met some of them.

Koroma said he and N’Gasa had met about six or seven years ago, adding he had “enlightened N’Gasa and stopped him getting into trouble,” Ms Knight told the court.