Bogus Coventry charity collector jailed for sex attacks
- Published
Vaseli Baicu fled to Europe after carrying out a string of sex assaults
A man posed as a bogus doorstep collector for a children's charity to sexually assault women, police said.
Vaseli Baicu, 26, inappropriately touched and kissed five victims, aged between 18 and 81, in Coventry, over three weeks in July 2018.
He also stole jewellery then fled to Romania. He was arrested in Denmark a year later, West Midlands Police said.
Baicu admitted sexual assault and was jailed for six years and three months at Warwick Crown Court.
He claimed to be working for a disabled and deaf-mute children's charity when he knocked at the doors of the women, police said.
Baicu entered homes and took a mobile phone, jewellery and a pension card, between 2 and 21 July, 2018, the force added.
Officers said they worked with Interpol to track his movements around Europe for more than a year.
Baicu, of no fixed address, admitted four counts of sexual assault, trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence, two burglaries and fraud.
Det Con Mel Oldershaw, from Coventry Police, said it was a "complex investigation" which "turned into a 'Catch Me If You Can' police hunt."
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