Man, 21, jailed for raping 12-year-old girl he met on Snapchat

A man who raped a 12-year-old girl after befriending her on social media has been jailed for nine years.

Driss Serhir met the victim on Snapchat when he was 18 and she agreed to travel with him to central London in October 2019.

During the day he claimed to have a knife and a gun and took control of the victim’s mobile phone, the court heard.

He then booked a hotel room where he sexually assaulted her several times before she left the next day.

Officers believe there may be additional victims between the ages of 10 and 15 and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

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Serhir, of no fixed abode, was previously found guilty of three counts of rape as part of an investigation by North West BCU’s Predatory Offender Unit.

He was sentenced to nine years in prison for each offense, to be served concurrently.

Police were informed about the rape after the girl returned home in a distressed state.

She was supported by specially trained officials and partners.

Following the victim’s report, Serhir was quickly identified and arrested. Following a police investigation, he was charged with three counts of rape of a child under the age of thirteen.

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Forensic experts proved that the semen found on the victim’s clothing was consistent with Serhir. An examination of his phone revealed he had used the device to book the hotel room, although he used a different name and paid in cash.

The seized phone also contained videos showing him in the hotel room with the girl, while search terms such as “rape” were found in his search history.

Sergeant PJ Jones, who led the investigation, said: “Driss Serhir is a predatory offender who was callous, not only in his actions but also in his insistence on putting his victim through trial.”

He added: “Examination of Serhir’s movements and communications suggests that he was in contact with many girls between the ages of ten and 15 and, under several pseudonyms, covered the Greater London area, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and the visited the West Midlands.” .

Serhir was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and given a 15-year prison sentence for sexual harassment and contraception.