Paedophile, 25, had sex with girl, 12, as he hid in her bedroom for TWO DAYS while her unknowing parents sat downstairs



Leigh Arendse groomed the innocent youngster on the internet



He then travelled from London to her Cambridgeshire home



The 25-year-old was jailed for four years after admitting two counts of rape



Locked-up: Leigh Arendse, 25, who was jailed for four years after he raped a 12-year-old girl in Cambridgeshire

A paedophile who hid in a 12-year-old girl's bedroom and had sex with her for two days while her unknowing parents sat downstairs has been jailed.

Leigh Arendse, 25, of Brunswick Park, Barnet, groomed the innocent youngster on an internet chat room before going from London to her Cambridgeshire home to meet her.

He then spent 48 hours in her bedroom watching DVDs and having sex with her - and hid behind the door when her mum went to check on her.

Sick Arendse claimed he thought the girl was actually 14 and only realised her true age when her mum told her off for smoking in her room.

He then left the house and went to London with the girl whose parents raised the alarm when she went missing last August.

Arendse , of Brunswick Park, Barnet, has now been jailed for four years after admitting two counts of raping the girl.

Judge Jonathan Haworth told him: 'This is not a case of an 18 or 19-year-old - you are a mature adult.

'You had been in her bedroom when you knew that members of her family were also in the house.

'There was a sheer irresponsibility on your part when you failed to find out her real age.'

Sara Walker, prosecuting, told Cambridge Crown Court: 'The defendant stayed in the victim's room where the two watched DVDs.

'The next evening, her mum came up and he hid behind the door.

'Her mum was appalled at the mess and said that her daughter shouldn't be smoking at the age of 12. The defendant then found out that she was indeed 12.'

Sentenced: Leigh Arendse was jailed for four years at Cambridge Crown Court for raping a 12-year-old girl

She added: 'The victim said she started to kiss him and that he initially pushed her off.

'She then tried to kiss him again and he kissed her back before they had sex.'

The court heard that the youngster told her family she had unprotected sex with Arendse .

Defending, David McIntosh claimed that Arendse's response to finding out the girl's true age was one of 'shock' and he decided to return to London.

He said: 'She was the one who insisted on following him to London and in his defence he didn't want her to come with him.'

Arendse was also handed a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16, possessing any device capable of accessing the internet unless it retains and displays history and deleting such history.



He was also placed on the sex offenders' register .



Detective Constable Andy MacDonald, from Cambridgeshire Constabulary, said: 'Arendse was clearly aware that the girl in this case was underage but continued his contact with her and arranged to meet up.

'He had plenty of opportunities to stop the relationship but chose to travel to meet her to have sex.