A man preyed on young girls including one as young as 11 in her school uniform before sexually assaulting them on the London Underground. Ryan Germain, 26, had targeted 10 young women or girls in public areas, before sitting on their laps and sexually assaulting them.
Appearing yesterday (Wednesday, March 2) at Isleworth Crown Court, he was handed an indefinite hospital order and placed on the sex offenders register after pleading guilty to all charges. Over a 15-month period from December 2019 to March 2021, Germain had approached a number of females, ranging from the ages of 11 to 24 and spoken to them about his autism in a “guise to commit sexual assault”.
READ MORE: Boys, 15 and 13, to appear in court after being charged with South West London robbery
In his first set of offences, Germain had approached the women, all aged between 18 and 20, at public places such as the Tate Modern Gallery, the British Library and Westfield Shopping Centre.
Prosecutor Paul Farley said: “In short, the defendant would approach the women, he would engage them in conversation, ask them if they knew anything about autism or tell them he had autism. He would then ask them to accompany him to a different area away from the public, for example a locker room in the museum.
“Once there, he would engage them in conversation and told them he liked to have contact. At least on two occasions when they weren’t asking for it, had sat himself on their laps.”
He had also straddled the legs of one of his victims, and on each occasion had rubbed his genitals against their thighs. Germain was known to carry a pair of high heels around with him and had asked the girls to wear them so that he could “rub himself along their legs in time to the tapping of the heels”.
His second set of offences all took place on public transport with “much younger girls”, including an 11 and 13-year-old, one of whom was wearing a school uniform. In a similar scenario, he would ask his victims to wear the heels before sitting on their laps and rubbing his genitals against them.
After sexually assaulting one schoolgirl whilst travelling on the District line, she had seen him on different days travelling the same route to approach other girls of a similar age, only to be kicked away on one occasion.
He was subsequently arrested in October 2020 and admitted approaching the women, but denied any form of sexual assault. Two of the offences in November and December of that year were committed after he was released from bail. After being remanded into custody at Westminster Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty, he was subsequently sent to a psychiatric ward at the John Howard Centre.
His defence lawyer, Mustapha Hakme, called upon Dr Sanjib Ghosh who told the court that Germain was autistic and of low level intelligence, with a “sexual deviance” involving his attraction to underage girls which made him suitable for a hospital order.
Do you want to stay up to date with the latest news, views, features and opinion from across the city?
MyLondon’s brilliant newsletter The 12 is absolutely jam packed with all the latest to keep you keep you entertained, informed and uplifted.
You’ll get 12 stories straight to your inbox at around 12pm. It’s the perfect lunchtime read.
And what’s more – it’s FREE!
The MyLondon team tells London stories for Londoners. Our journalists cover all the news you need – from City Hall to your local streets, so you’ll never miss a moment.
Don’t skip a beat and sign up to The 12 newsletter here.
A victim impact statement from his 13-year-old victim was read aloud, where she said: “Before the incident, I was not a scared or anxious person but his actions have turned me into something I don’t recognise.” She said the incident had left her “really upset and scared” and that she had gone home and cried to her parents.
Judge Edmunds told the defendant, who had joined via CVP link, that his actions had shown evidence of “pre-planning” and that he was satisfied Germain had “some awareness that his actions were wrong”.
He said: “The common theme of the offences is that you would approach your victims and say of your autism and ask them to sit with you to make you feel safe. You used that excuse to sexually assualt your victims by trying to hug them, touching areas such as their bottoms and rubbing your groin against their legs and knees.”
Despite recognising that Germain had received his autistic diagnosis several years previously, he said he used that mental condition as a way of “seeking to engage sympathy” from his victims. “That level of escalation satisfies me that there is not only a risk of you committing further offences in the future, but further offences that could cause serious harm,” he continued.
He was handed a Section 37 hospital order and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.
Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.
For all the latest World News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.