A man hailing from Goa was convicted in the United Kingdom on June 19 for sexually grooming two teenaged girls. Francisco Pereira is now on the country’s sex offenders’ register, and is likely to be given a prison sentence, the Times of India reported.
Pereira, 30, was convicted by England’s Isleworth Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to child sex offenses. The court adjourned his sentencing to July 11. Pereira was released on bail on the condition that he would not apply for any travel documents, the report added. The charges were read out to him in court via a Konkani interpreter. His passport has been impounded by the court.
Pereira, who is a Portuguese national, pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to meet girls under the age of 16 years following sexual grooming and two charges of attempting sexual communications with two underage girls, according to the publication. He had pleaded not guilty to the same charges at Uxbridge magistrates’ court in May.
Pereira lost his job as a warehouse operative in Heathrow after he was arrested in January this year over suspicions of pediophilia after he was identified by Wolf Pack Hunting UK group, an organization of internet vigilantes that tracks child molesters by setting up fake online profiles of children. The Southall resident struck communication with a volunteer member of the group posing as two 12-year-old girls on the internet, and sent them sexually explicit photos and messages in December 2017. He was arrested when he was on his way to meet them for a sexual encounter.
Defence lawyer Sarah Iskarous said in court that Pereira used to live in Goa, has Portuguese nationality and moved to the United Kingdom in 2014. “He has been in the UK working but he can no longer work as he does not have his passport,” Iskarous said, adding that Pereira lives with his uncle, the report added. “I appreciate the court will be concerned about him absconding but his uncle who he lives with can offer a surety. He has been out of work since he was arrested and is burdened with the responsibility of helping his uncle out financially and paying rent and bills and sending money to his sick mother in India,” Iskarous added.
The judge, however, did not permit returning of the passport because of Pereira’s guilty pleas, and added that he should expect a prison sentence.