Terrified Leeds schoolgirl 'froze' as loitering predator sexually assaulted her in the street

The youngster was targeted by Kevardo Thompson who had been loitering near to her school on the morning of July 17 last year. His strange behaviour had even prompted staff to warn him off.

But the 21-year-old approached the girl from behind, reached over her shoulders and groped her breast, Leeds Crown Court heard.

He was found unfit to stand trial, so a trial of facts was held in his absence. A jury found that he had committed the sexual assault.

During a sentencing hearing this week, a victim impact statement from the girl was read out by prosecutor Richard Butter, who said that she had been told she was just in the “wrong place at the wrong time”, but directing her words to Thompson, she said: “It was you who was in the wrong place. What is wrong with you to think it was okay?

“I even thought it was my fault. I did nothing. I froze. I did not know what to do in that moment. I just know I wanted you to go away. Freezing was okay. I did not ask you to approach me and assault me.”

She said that she has to have the TV on to sleep, and is scared to leave the house, having been a “strong-minded, happy and bubbly” person before the assault.

Thompson, of Charlton Place, Burmantofts, appeared in court via video link from a secure hospital where he was being detained. The court heard that he suffered from a psychotic disorder, possibly paranoid schizophrenia.

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Specialists had said that Thompson had been on medication which had helped improve his condition, but recommended he be detained on a hospital order for further treatment.

Judge Richard Mansell KC said he would follow the recommendation and handed Thompson a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act - to keep him at the Newsam Centre at Seacroft Hospital. He told Thompson: “You had been hanging around the school looking to target young girls.

“You looked to approach one and followed another and returned to the gates earlier that day despite being told to leave by teachers.”