'I thought I was being scouted to be a model, but instead I was groomed'

Police believe there may be many more victims of Benjamin Agyemang who have not yet come forward

Three sexual abuse survivors have told the BBC they were groomed, abused and exploited by a sexual predator when they were teenagers.

Benjamin Agyemang, 45, has been jailed for 13 and a half years by Inner London Crown Court after he was found guilty of sexually abusing the women.

His offending covered a period of 20 years, and police believe there could be many more victims.

One woman said she was targeted while she was 14 years old.

Nevaeh, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, told BBC London that Agyemang approached girls on the street with false promises of modelling work.

She said she was in her school uniform on Elephant and Castle High Street when "he just approached me, talking about how I look, how pretty I am, about how I have the look" for modelling.

"I did have my guards up a little bit, but he broke those down by just telling me how beautiful I am," she said.

"Now talking about it, it's disgusting. But... you're not supposed to think like adults when you're a child."

Nevaeh told the BBC she reported Agyemang after neighbours called police

Nevaeh said she was taken to his flat in Elephant and Castle and things "very quickly turned into an abusive situation".

She said Agyemang told her "about the things I'm going to have to do to get a foot in the door" for modelling.

'He saw us as property'

Nevaeh began staying at his flat for weeks at a time, kept in a room and not allowed to speak to other people.

Manipulated and rarely allowed to leave the house, she was repeatedly physically attacked and sexually abused by Agyemang, and abused by multiple other men.

She also witnessed him exploiting other girls and young women. She reported him after neighbours called police when he attacked her.

Nevaeh said she didn't realise for a long time that what she was experiencing was abuse, saying: "He didn't see us as human beings, he saw us as property and money-making machines."

'He seemed charming'

Another survivor told the BBC she reported the rape at the time.

Soraya, not her real name, said she was approached by two women who introduced her to Agyemang when she was 16.

"When you're a teen you feel like you don't get much attention or you're a bit insecure... I fell for it," she said.

When Agyemang called her, "he seemed charming, he made me feel comfortable, I felt like I could trust him. It just seemed like he wanted to look after me," she added.

Soraya went to his flat on the promise he would make her a model, but instead he took her to another house where men abused her.

When she realised what was happening, Soraya said she called Agyemang but he left her to make her own way home.

"I just felt like it was my fault... I blamed myself."

Soraya explained she had "buried" the abuse for a long time and now has "major trust issues, which affects friendships, relationships, everything".

Judge Rosina Cottage KC told Agyemang at the sentencing hearing: "In my view you are a predator. You used your charisma to target teenage girls for yours and others' sexual exploitation.

"Teenage girls were your target audience. You groomed them for sexual work and passed them on to others."

Det Con Kate Orr from the Metropolitan Police commended the "courage and strength" of the women and said she hoped the investigation would "encourage victims of sexual offending to come forward to police".

"We have specially trained officers who will listen carefully to allegations and investigate them thoroughly, with a view to getting justice for victim-survivors and protecting future victims."

Agyemang was convicted on 27 September at Inner London Crown Court of one count of attempting to procure a girl under the age of 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse; two counts of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and four counts of sexual activity with a child.

On 9 November he was sentenced to 13 and a half years and will remain on licence for another four.

Additional reporting by Bethan Bell.

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