Ex-Obama adviser flew to UK to rape girl, 9, and brought suitcase packed with condoms and cuddly toys
A FORMER adviser to Barack Obama flew to the UK to rape a nine-year-old girl.
Investment banker Rahamim Shy, 47, travelled from New York to Bedfordshire to meet the schoolgirl and even packed a suitcase with condoms and toys.
The twisted predator described the “unspeakable acts” he was planning on an online forum and messaging apps to someone he believed to be the girl's grandma.
But the person using the name "Debbie" was in fact a decoy account created by a police officer from Bedfordshire Police.
Shy was sentenced yesterday to 11 and a half years in prison on Wednesday after being convicted at Luton crown court last year.
The court heard he had described the girl's age of nine as a "tad late" to start sexual activity and that it was an "honour" to be considered "her first".
READ MORE ON US NEWS
Shy flew to Gatwick airport on February 23 last year before driving to Bedford, where he was immediately arrested.
Officers found several cuddly toys and condoms within his luggage after his arrest.
Prosecutors argued the items demonstrated "a clear intent to win the child over before abusing her".
Shy tried to delete the "depraved messages" he had sent after arriving in the UK messages retrieved from his phone suggest he had discussed his sexual interest in children with others.
Most read in The US Sun
Indecent images of children were also discovered on his phone by police.
He was found guilty of arranging the commission of a child sex offence and possessing indecent photographs of a child.
After sentencing, Lorraine Telford of the Crown Prosecution Service described Shy as "a predator".
She said: "Rahamim Shy is a predator who was fully prepared to commit unspeakable acts against a child for his own sexual gratification.
"It was clear from his explicit conversations and items he brought to England that he had only one intention, to commit rape against what he knew was a vulnerable child.
"The fact the child in this case did not exist makes no difference, and it is a credit to the police operation and subsequent prosecution that Shy will no longer pose an immediate threat.
"All children have the right to feel safe and protected, and I hope this conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working closely alongside law enforcement, will relentlessly pursue justice and prosecute those who seek to sexually exploit children."