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| Barber on trial |
A barber, accused of raping vulnerable girls and forcing them to have sex with his dog, told one of his alleged victims it "was for her own good", a jury heard.
The mother of one of Anthony Foster’s alleged victim’s told Croydon Crown Court yesterday he inflicted degrading abuse on her troubled 16-year-old daughter “to set her in a different direction.”
Barber shop owner Mr Foster, 35, of St James's Park, West Croydon, is accused of raping and sexually assaulting three teenage girls between 2010 and 2012.
He is alleged to have forced two of them to have sex with his French Mastiff, Tyson, as well as sexually assaulting one with a Guinness bottle and pressuring both to have sex with his friends for money.
Giving evidence on the third day of his trial, the mother of one of Mr Foster's alleged victims told the court the 16-year-old kept the abuse secret for two years and "would have taken it to the grave" if she could.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "She was very embarrassed about it. She didn't want people to know.
"If it hadn't slipped out I think she would have taken it to the grave. She was very sensitive."
The court heard the girl, herself a single parent, had reluctantly told her mum about the alleged abuse in September last year after being questioned about "appearing upset".
Her mum said: "She said something about people doing things and how it had opened her eyes to what they could be like.
"She said Anthony had tried to make her have sex with a dog again. It was something that slipped out."
The girl, now 19, initially refused to talk about the abuse any further, but later confided in her mum, who told the court: "She said some bits about asking why Anthony had done it and he had said that he was trying to 'set her', like set her in a different direction.
"I said there was something very twisted there. I said it was almost paedophilic, trying to justify what he had done by saying it was for her own good."
The girl's mum and aunt convinced her to report the alleged abuse to the police in November 2012, leading to Mr Foster's arrest.
A second 16-year-old and an 18-year-old later reported separate allegations. Both will appear in court to give evidence against Mr Foster.
The 16-year-old says Mr Foster convinced her to visit his shop to have her eyebrows shaped, then the door, grabbed her and tried to undress her.
He is alleged to have whispered lewd sexual comments when she told him to stop.
The 18-year-old, who met Mr Foster at a party in one of his shops, alleges he coerced her into giving him oral sex, before pressing her face to the wall and raping her.
Later, she claims, he forced her to let Tyson perform sex acts against her.
Edmund Fowler, prosecuting, described a pattern of abuse in which Mr Foster told his victims they did not have to have sex with him, before becoming aggressive, calling them "hos" and "whores", and forcing himself on them.
Mr Foster denies all 14 charges, encompassing three counts of rape, two of assault by penetration, three of causing to engage in sexual activity without consent, two of sexual assault, inciting prostitution and attempted assault by penetration.
The trial, expected to last two weeks, continues.
Source: Local London
