Eagle eyed nurse traps West Bromwich sex pest after Express & Star story
A child molester is behind bars and facing deportation today thanks to the Express & Star and an eagle eyed nurse.
Lithuanian-born sex pest Rimvydas Grigas indecently assaulted an 11-year-old as she travelled home from lessons on the bus, a judge heard.
The 60-year-old grandfather boarded the No 47 service in West Bromwich High Street around 3.45pm, ignored other empty seats and went straight to the one next to the young girl in school uniform, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting, explained: "He said something about her nice stockings, then slid his hand onto her leg at least six times.
"He tried to get his fingers up her skirt and onto the inside of her thigh. He was drunk and behaved in a lascivious manner. It was a sustained incident and she was very young."
The girl, who was on the inside seat, finally plucked up courage to move away from the man, left the bus at the next stop and reported the February 9 2016 incident to police.
She later told officers: "Immediately after the incident I felt really scared. I was crying and shaking. Months later I still got scared when I walked down the street." The girl now carries a panic alarm.
Pictures of the culprit and CCTV footage taken by a camera on the bus were circulated by police on February 26 last year in an effort to trace the man.
Two months later Grigas, who has a distinctive white pony tail, went to the City Hospital Accident and Emergency Department in Birmingham for treatment for epilepsy.
A nurse recognised him as the man in the picture published in the Express & Star and police were alerted.
"They were called to a Birmingham hospital where the defendant had been taken on April 26 last year and was recognised as a result of a photograph and CCTV published in the press," continued Mr Spratt.
Miss Seamran Sidhu, defending, said Grigas had turned to drink after the collapse of his marriage seven years ago.
She continued: "He does not remember the offence at all. He saw somebody on the CCTV that looked like him but could not believe it was him. He was in disbelief and still does not know how or why it happened. This was the wake up call he needed and he is now determined to give up alcohol."
He came to this country from Lithuania in 2000 because he had been 'in danger of being killed by the mafia,' disclosed Miss Sidhu.
Grigas, from Windmill Lane, Smethwick, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a girl under 13 and was jailed for 21 months by Judge Amjad Nawaz who also recommended him for deportation back to Lithuania.
He told the defendant: "These event will live long in the memory of that young girl. She was horrified and frightened and did not know what to do. She was effectively held captive in the seat until she mustered up enough courage to get up and go. The incident was deliberate and sustained."
