A Nigerian postgraduate student in the United Kingdom, Chiemka Okoronta, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a 17-year-old girl after offering to share a taxi with her in West Yorkshire.
According to a BBC report, the incident occurred on March 25, after both Okoronta and the victim had been passengers on a night bus at Morley, Leeds. The teenager, whose phone battery had died, accepted Okoronta’s offer to share a taxi to Bradford.
However, the vehicle went instead to Okoronta’s flat, where he lured the girl inside, locked her in a bathroom, and raped her. The victim managed to escape after the assault and used a passerby’s phone to contact police.
At Bradford Crown Court on Monday, Okoronta was convicted on multiple counts of rape. In addition to his 10-year jail term, he will serve a further three years on extended licence and be placed on the sex offenders register for life. The court heard that he is likely to be deported to Nigeria after completing his sentence.
In a victim impact statement, the teenager described how the ordeal had left her suffering from flashbacks and nightmares.
“This incident has turned my life upside down. I have flashbacks of what happened to me, I have nightmares – one minute I feel fine and the next minute it all comes back,” she said.
Judge Sophie McKone described Okoronta as a “dangerous sexual predator” who deliberately isolated his victim before attacking her.
Detective Constable Sue Sutcliffe of West Yorkshire Police commended the victim for her courage in reporting the crime.
“I would like to commend the victim in this case for her immense bravery in coming forward straight away to report this horrific crime,” she said. “I would urge anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to please report it to us so we can take action.”
