Man accused of kidnapping nine-year-old girl says his goal was to get her “safe.”

A man accused of kidnapping, drugging and sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl denied putting Benadryl in her drink and said his goal was to “keep her safe,” a court has heard heard.

American pilot Robert Prussak approached the girl outside Harrods on April 22 this year, who went missing after becoming separated from her family during a trip from France to London, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

She was standing outside Harrods and it is claimed that Prussak accompanied the girl to his flat, gave her bitter-tasting water and that she felt tired after drinking it.

The 57-year-old, who has no permanent address, is said to have taken her to a nearby park, where he sexually abused her.

On Friday, Prussak said he was walking past Harrods on the way to Buckingham Palace when he saw the girl and initially thought she was “waiting for someone” and decided to move on, but then thought she might need help, like it seemed to be “looking around, searching”.

He told the jury: “My thoughts went straight to my own daughters, who are just a few years older than her, and I thought, if my daughters were lost in a big city, I wouldn't want them to be alone.” I was hesitant to get involved.”

Prussak spoke to the girl and she responded in a different language, so he began communicating with her using the Google Translate app, he said.

The defendant said he asked the girl how long it had been since she had seen her parents and she held up three fingers, which he said meant three minutes.

He said he asked if they were going shopping “to see if we could get in there quickly (Harrods), their answer was no, and then I said, well, where did you want to go then?” She did something written down in translation, 'Muse'.”

Prussak said he understood that meant “museum,” but added she didn’t know which.

Asked why he didn't stay with the girl outside Harrods, he said: “Honestly, knowing everything I know now that they were at Harrods, the best solution would have been to stay there or go in. “

Prussak said he walked with the girl toward a museum to “hopefully intercept the parents” and looked for police stations on his phone and “surprisingly they were pretty far away.”

He said his intention was to “return her to her parents.”

The defendant said his goal was to “stay on the way to a museum and make her feel safe and comfortable.”

When asked why they didn't go to the museum, he replied that it had started to rain harder and they hadn't seen the girl's parents. He said his apartment was “very close” and he knew “how to get there quickly.”

He said he “absolutely regrets” not calling the police sooner. And he didn't call because he didn't know “what answer I would get” and was afraid “they would send the cavalry and the ambulance and everything.”

Prussak decided to take the girl back to his apartment and said he then searched for emergency services online, offered her water and she drank two glasses, one from the kitchen faucet and one from a bottle.

Then, through translation, he said the girl used the word “bite”, and a few discussions later he “thought” she meant “bitter”, then tested his own water from the same bottle and said it tasted “normal”.

Catherine Donnelly, defending, put it to him that he had thrown Benadryl into the water and asked him if he had done that, to which he replied “no”.

Then she asked, “The accusation is that you did this to put her to sleep or drug her or something like that, did you do that?”

Prussak replied: “No.”

He was then asked if he knew how long they had been in his apartment. He said after he left he thought it had been “about an hour” but later found out it had been two hours, which “surprised” him.

The court previously heard that the girl was later taken to hospital where she was reunited with her family and a urine sample was taken from her.

The court heard the sample contained diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, an antihistamine that typically causes drowsiness.

Nneka Akudolu KC, who prosecuted and read out agreed facts on Friday, said jars containing a clear liquid were seized from the kitchen and the liquid was tested for Benadryl and the results were all negative.

Dr. Paul Skett, a pharmacology expert, told the jury Friday morning that Benadryl was used both as a “sleeping pill to aid sleep and to aid in the treatment of allergic reactions.”

Prussak told the jury he joined the Air Force as a scientist in 1997, later trained as a pilot and remained in the military for about 18 years.

He denies three charges of sexually assaulting a child under 13. He also denies one count of kidnapping, one count of committing kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offense and one count of intentionally administering a substance.

The process continues.