A 14-year-old girl told her mother she was scared in a chilling text sent shortly before she was raped by a man she met on Facebook, a court heard.
The girl sneaked out of her home in Stroud, Gloucestershire to meet Jordan Maxwell after he flattered her on Facebook, a jury was told.
Her mother, who was travelling home at the time, then got text messages from the girl as Maxwell drove her to a secluded spot, prosecutors said.
Maxwell denies falsely imprisoning the girl in his car and raping her in May this year and is now on trial at Gloucester Crown Court.
A girl was driven to this rural location and raped by a man she met on Facebook, a court heard
Prosecutor Ian Fenny told the jury: ‘Our case is that this fourteen year old girl was not quite as grown up or resourceful as she thought she was.
‘You may conclude she was flattered by the interest shown in her by an older boy who was at the time just a month short of his 20th birthday.
‘She agreed to meet this man at night. He knew how old she was. She had told him.’
He continued: ‘There had been a casual meeting between them a couple of weeks before this incident. There had also been Facebook exchanges between them. They began to exchange messages.
‘On 21st May this year they were in contact with one another during the day… She agreed to meet him in the evening. She had at least some idea that they would be smoking cannabis.
‘She wanted to bring a friend with her because she was frightened about being with him on her own. But he said “No, I want to meet you on your own because I want to get to know you”.
‘Between 11pm and midnight she slipped out of her home to meet him.
Describing the meeting, the prosecutor said: ‘He produced a cannabis spliff and they smoked together. He then produced a second spliff and she says she felt different when she smoked it. She said it felt weird.
‘He then drove so fast that it frightened her. He held her leg while he was driving.
‘She sent her mum a series of texts at that stage. In the first she said “Sorry Mum, I snuck out. But I’m scared. I will be home by the time you get back but I need to chat with you. I am sorry”.’
Her alleged attacker, Jordan Maxwell, is now on trial at Gloucester Crown Court (pictured)
Four minutes later she texted ‘Mum, I’m scared.’
Mr Fenny said her mother picked up the messages at 1.17am and replied “Where are you?” then “I will come and get you, where are you”, followed by “Answer me please” and finally “Please, we are out looking”.’
The girl was forced into the back of Maxwell’s car and raped, the prosecutor claimed. The Crown’s case it that she was ‘submissive’ but did not consent.
The girl eventually got home to her mother at 1.30pm.
The prosecutor said: ‘By now her mum and her partner were out trying to find her. You can only imagine what was going through mum’s mind.’
The jury heard the girl’s video recorded police interview in which she said she was ‘petrified’ as Maxwell raped her.
‘He had locked the door so I couldn’t get out,’ she stated. ‘He got me into the back. He forced himself on me. I was telling him to get off me and he wouldn’t. I was pushing him and he wouldn’t let me go.’
In a statement to police Maxwell said he thought the girl was 16 and she consented to sex, the court heard.
The trial continues.
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