A former restaurant boss has been jailed after sexually assaulting a teenager.
Rezwan Chowdhury-Ahmed was found guilty of groping the girl and kissing her in the back of his car.
The 49-year-old father, who owned Saffron Indian Restaurant in Leysdown, made inappropriate comments about the girl taking a shower and questioned “why she didn’t send him a photo”.
On the same day, he asked his victim if she wanted to “go for a smoke” in his car.
When they were inside the vehicle he put his left hand under the back of her top and started stroking her back.
Chowdhury-Ahmed continued rubbing the youngster on her sides before touching her bra and saying: “It feels tight – what size are you?”
Prosecutor Sarah O’Kane said the altercation left the victim feeling “uncomfortable and scared”.
Ms O’Kane said later that day the defendant took the victim to a pub car park in his car and told her to get in the back. He began questioning her about her sex life and asked if she’d like to “learn about sex”.
She continued: “He kissed her face, neck, chest before moving her top down and kissed her breasts.”
Chowdhury-Ahmed continued his assault, asking the victim if he could “kiss her below”, to which she told him ‘no’ and
stopped.
In the following weeks, the victim was left feeling sick and anxious and isolated herself from social settings.
Eventually, she told her mum who reported it to police and Chowdhury-Ahmed was arrested.
He denied anything ever happened but was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault at trial.
In a victim impact statement, read by Ms O’Kane, the victim said Chowdhury-Ahmed had taken away her trust in males
and she had sought help for mental health problems.
The prosecutor added: “She spent many hours crying to her mother in complete anguish and she feels she lives in a constant state of fear.”
The court heard how the former restaurant boss was of previously good character and had no previous convictions.
He is a landlord and owns two properties as well as being a carer for his vulnerable mother who has dementia.
Chowdhury-Ahmed was sentenced to 27 months in at Maidstone Crown Court on May 16.
He was also told to pay £2,000 in compensation to the youngster and a 10-year restraining order was also put in place.
Judge Gareth Branston told said there was an “element of grooming” to his offences.
Speaking after the sentencing , the victim told KentOnline: “I’ve felt a little reassured with the 10-year restraining order, knowing he is not allowed near me again.
“The whole process has been very draining, I’ve suffered mentally and physically from the stress and anxiety.
“Despite his punishment, I will never believe he has got what he deserves.
“I only wish to prevent this from happening again.”
