A British airline pilot, Kwame Yeboah, has been jailed for raping a 12-year-old girl after meeting and grooming her on social media.

Mr Yeboah, 30, pleaded guilty to all charges at Liverpool Crown Court on April 22, 2026, about two months before he was sentenced to 9 years and 4 months’ imprisonment on Wednesday.

He was charged with three counts of rape, based on the fact that a child under 13 does not have the legal capacity to consent to any form of sexual activity, and one count of sexual assault.

Investigations revealed that Mr Yeboah first made contact with the child online in late 2025. 

Though she initially told him she was 17 and their conversations began ordinarily, prosecutors insisted that the nature of later messages and her appearance when they met in person would have made it clear to him that she was significantly younger and could not consent to any sexual activity with him.

According to prosecutors, in February 2026 Mr Yeboah travelled from Reading to Merseyside to meet the child late in the evening. He drove her around before taking her to an isolated location, where he raped her three times.

Police commenced investigations after the child reported how she struggled to process what was happening and felt nervous and confused.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Thomas Hanlon, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, said, “Kwame Yeboah would have known early on in his contact with this child that she was not the age she initially claimed to be. She spoke about school and sent images of herself in school uniform. When he met her in person, it would have been obvious that she was a very young child.”

“Despite this, Yeboah deliberately took her to an isolated location where he raped her three times. He groomed the victim into believing she was in a relationship with someone who cared about her. In reality, he was an adult man who abused his position and exploited her for his own sexual gratification,” Mr Hanlon said.

After Mr Yeboah’s sentencing on Wednesday, Detective Constable Roxana Tusa from CCSET said, “Our investigation has proved that Yeboah is a dangerous sexual offender, who will now begin a significant jail sentence for his abhorrent crimes.”