Man accused of kidnapping, drugging and sexually assaulting nine-year-old girl says his goal was to keep her 'safe' | British News

A man accused of kidnapping, drugging and sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl claimed his goal was to get her “safe.”

Robert Prussak denied putting Benadryl in the drink of a girl he approached outside Harrods – after she became separated from her family during a trip from France to London on April 22 this year, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

The American pilot is said to have accompanied the girl to his apartment and given her bitter-tasting water.

She felt tired after drinking it and the 57-year-old took her to a nearby park where he sexually assaulted her, the court heard.

On Friday, Prussak said he was on his way to Buckingham Palace when he saw the girl.

He thought she was “waiting for someone” and might need help, the court was told.

Prussak 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.”

He spoke to the girl and she responded in a different language, so they began using a translation app to communicate, he said.

Prussak asked her if her parents were going shopping, and she wrote down something that translated as “muse,” he added.

He claimed he understood it to mean a “museum,” but added that she didn’t know which one.

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. “

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Instead, the defendant began accompanying them to a museum to “hopefully intercept the parents” and looked for nearby police stations, but “surprisingly they were quite far away.”

Prussak claimed his intention was to “return her to her parents” and keep her “safe and comfortable.”

But when Prussak explained why he then decided not to go to the museum, he claimed that it had started to rain heavily and his apartment was “very close”.

Prussak has now said he “absolutely regrets” not calling the police sooner, but claimed he didn't do so because he was unsure “what response I would get.”

The girl took her back to his apartment and drank two glasses of water, one from the kitchen tap and one from a bottle, the jury heard.

Through the translation she said it tasted bitter, he said, but when he tasted it he claimed it was fine.

Catherine Donnelly, defending, asked him if he had drugged the water and he said: “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 said, “No.”

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.

From this they found the active ingredient for Benadryl, an antihistamine that can cause drowsiness, the court heard.

Prussak denies three counts 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 administering a substance with intent.

The process continues.