A man has been jailed after sexually assaulting a number of women and girls, including two women walking with their children in Lea Valley Park.
Adekunle Olaleye Fadare was shown to have committed five separate sexual assaults, four of which took place on the same day over the span of four and a half hours.
Fadare, 39, of Upton Road in Enfield, appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on August 11. He was also handed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be made to sign the Sex Offenders Register.
Fadare was sentenced to a total of 25 months’ imprisonment after previously pleading guilty to the five sexual assaults. Detectives pieced together CCTV footage and financial evidence to link Fadare to the spate of sex attacks.
On October 20 last year, Fadare arrived in Chingford shortly before 7.25am. He had attempted to buy food using his bank card and, after the payment was declined he made off with the food without paying.
This declined payment would later play a key role in helping detectives place Fadare in Chingford at the time the offences took place.
After fleeing the scene, Fadare encountered his first victim, a 23-year-old woman on Hall Lane, E4, as she walked to work.
Fadare touched the woman inappropriately from behind before grabbing her arm as he drew level with her. He then asked the woman where she was going.
The victim told him to go away and eventually managed to duck into a side street to avoid him.
Fadare then made his way to Chingford Mount Road where he targeted a 15-year-old girl waiting at a bus stop on her way to school.
At about 7.40am Fadare approached and sexually assaulted her by touching, while making lewd comments. In a state of shock, the young girl backed away from Fadare telling him to leave her alone.
After this second assault, Fadare made his way to the borders of Leyton and Hackney.
At around 11.40am, on a pathway in Lea Valley Park, he followed a 31-year-old woman with her child, and sexually assaulted her by touching her.
Just 20 minutes later Fadare attacked a fourth victim, a 30-year-old woman also out with her child in Lea Valley Park. The victim had stopped to look at some horses in a paddock. Whilst standing near the fence she noticed Fadare approaching her.
He walked past her child and stopped behind her. As she turned round and faced him, he sexually assaulted her. Believing Fadare wanted to rob her, the victim got her phone out and told him to take it. This movement allowed the victim to break free from Fadare’s grip and run away with her child.
On November 5, Fadare sexually assaulted a fifth woman as she waited for a bus Middlesex Street, in the City of London. The victim was an off duty police officer and when Fadare left he was followed by the victim who alerted police and he was detained.
Detectives from Operation Sapphire linked the attacks thanks to the similar descriptions provided by the victims as well as the similarities in the nature of the offences. Fadare struck when the women were alone so there were no other witnesses to his crimes so officers had to use CCTV to construct a timeline of his movements.
After his arrest an identity parade was carried out where Fadare was picked out by the victims.
Detective Sergeant Darren Case, from Operation Sapphire, highlighted the courage the women showed throughout the investigation, adding: “Fadare has shown himself to be a sexual predator who methodically targeted the most vulnerable women that he could find.
"In particular he targeted a schoolgirl and two women who were with their children. He attacked these women when they were alone and in some cases in secluded areas. He thought this would help him conceal his crimes but I’m pleased to say he was wrong."
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