A man has pleaded guilty to the rape and kidnap of a 13-year-old schoolgirl in south-west London.
Kadian Nelson, 27, admitted to following the victim on her way to school in an attack whose aftermath was widely circulated on social media as the manhunt got underway.
The attack happened in North Place, Mitcham on Tuesday 3rd November last year.
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After creeping up behind the schoolgirl, he forced her into an alleyway where he sexually assaulted her.
A woman in the area called 999 to report that her daughter had seen a man grab a young girl. One of the woman's family members went out to check and interrupted Nelson's attack on the school girl. When asked how he knew her, Nelson lied and said the girl was his sister, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Nelson fled the scene leaving his jacket with the victim. The Metropolitan police named Nelson as a suspect following the attack in November "for his own safety," in an unusual step, after a video was widely circulated online.
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They also urged the public not to "take the law into your own hands" after vigilantes were seen looking for Nelson in the area following the video's release which went viral.
CCTV footage showed the young girl on her way to school and being followed down the street by a man in a hood.
A video captured on a mobile, and then shared on social media, then shows Nelson walking away with the girl, before the woman filming it comes to her aid and he vanishes
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Nelson appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Monday where he admitted kidnap, rape and making a threat to kill, the CPS said in a statement.
He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 13 August.
Featured Image Credit: PA