A sex offender who persistently groped and molested young women on trains and underground services throughout London has been sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Hailu Getemariam, 24, currently homeless, prowled the Transport for London network in search of solitary ladies to sexually abuse.
On one instance, he positioned himself next to a woman in an otherwise vacant train carriage and caressed her leg; on another occasion, he stood immediately behind a woman on the London Underground and molested her.
“Mr Hailu Getemariam, you are a deviant,” Judge Freya Newbery stated at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, November 15. You are targeting young women on public transport for sexual contact.’
The initial incident occurred on March 25 when refugee Hailu Getemariam entered a train at Denmark Hill.
He positioned himself beside a woman, despite the carriage being largely unoccupied, and commenced caressing her calf and thigh with his fingertips.
While doing this, he placed his leg on the seat in front, causing the woman to feel confined, the court was informed.
Upon disembarking the train at Beckenham Hill, the frightened woman turned and yelled at Hailu Getemariam.
“You claimed that you inadvertently made contact with her while reaching for your mobile phone, but that assertion is unequivocally false,” stated Judge Newbery.
On April 18, Hailu Getemariam was at a Northern Line stop where he observed another young woman whom he subsequently followed onto the Tube.
“The area was densely populated, yet you positioned yourself directly behind her and pressed your body against hers. “You made contact with her posterior and subsequently positioned your hand between the upper part of her thighs,” Judge Newbery stated.
Hailu Getemariam maintained his hand on her thigh for around five minutes.
“She was genuinely frightened.” “At a stop where several individuals boarded and alighted, she relocated to the opposite side of the carriage; however, you pursued her and positioned yourself directly across from her, maintaining a close proximity and gazing intently,” stated Judge Newbery.
The woman averted her attention from Hailu Getemariam and subsequently contacted the police upon disembarking.
Several weeks later, on May 10, Hailu Getemariam boarded a different train and positioned himself near another woman.
He thereafter struck her vaginal region many times through her clothing.
“When she realised what was happening, she moved away, of course, but when she saw that you then touched another woman on the bottom, she filmed you,” Judge Newbery said.
Getemariam denied all the charges, but a jury found him guilty of three sexual assaults.
He has been in prison since his arrest in May.
Defending Hailu Getemariam at his sentencing hearing, barrister Matthew Ness said: “This is his first period in custody, it has been a difficult period for him and he’s suffered anxiety and stress as a result of his situation.”
The court heard that during Hailu Getemariam’s time in prison, he was the subject of a number of assaults.
The 14-month prison sentence Judge Newbery gave him means that he will be released within one month, as he will have served half of that time.
When he’s released, he will be the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), which states that if he travels on the TFL network, he must use an Oyster card registered in his own name to pay.
The SHPO also states: “You must not sit immediately next to, touch, or make any attempt to communicate with any unknown female while you’re travelling on the TFL network.”
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