A Dundee businessman who lured drunken youngsters back to his home from a casino has been found guilty of a sex attack on a 16-year-old girl.
Company director Alexander Forootan, 40, pounced on the sleeping teenager while she was in a drunken stupor.
A jury at Dundee Sheriff Court found Forootan, now of London, guilty of sexually penetrating the girl while she slept at his former home in Thorter Neuk, Dundee, on March 1 2020.
The businessman, who ran IT firm Elite Contractors, was found with the semi-naked girl, who cannot be named, in his home after picking her up from a casino and promising to take her to an “after-party.”
Silent call to police
The girl was woken up by police to be told they were arresting Forootan for carrying out a sex attack upon her while she was unconscious on his sofa.
She told the court that she had no idea how her underwear came to be on Forootan’s floor or why her dress had been pushed up.
A young man who had also been lured back to Forootan’s home from the casino made a silent phone call to police because he feared the girl would be assaulted.
The man, now 24, told a jury that he had met the girl at the casino and they had both ended up in a taxi going back to Forootan’s flat for a party.
He said the older man was a stranger to them both and they had both had a drink with him before the girl fell asleep on the couch.
“I was on one couch trying to sleep and she was on the other couch trying to sleep. I could see she had covers on her,” he told the jury.
“The other male sat next to her and stroked her leg, high on her thigh. She was sleeping. I tried to contact police when I was in the house, but I didn’t want him to hear me.”
Victim was ‘nauseous and woozy’
The jury was played audio of the man’s conversation with police, in which he answered questions by tapping the screen to avoid having to speak.
He then left the property and immediately called the police, telling them: “I was worried because she was fast asleep and I didn’t want anything to happen to her. I got the feeling something was going to.
“I saw the gentleman trying to get it on with her when she was asleep. We were drunk. I left the address but I’m scared for the girl.
“He was drunk too, but he didn’t seem as drunk as she was. She fell asleep and it seemed as if he tried to take advantage. I saw with my own eyes.
“I just wanted to do the right thing. If I didn’t I would regret it. He was touching her leg. The girl was unconscious. She was asleep. That’s why I’m worried for her.”
The witness met police near the flat and directed them to where it was. He said he thought the girl was 18-20, although she confirmed she had been 16 at the time.
Now 20, she told the trial: “I just remember going to that house. I remember going in and having drinks. I got woken up by one of the policemen, telling me someone was getting arrested.
“He asked me if it was my underwear on the floor. I was confused and I just remember crying hysterically in the kitchen and I was embarrassed.
“I felt a lot of pain in my genital area. It was sore down there. I felt nauseous and woozy.”
After being found guilty, Forootan was remanded in custody for reports and will be sentenced next month.
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