Jailed, ‘Rush Hour Prowler’ who abused girls as young as eight
A NIGHTCLUB owner known as the ‘Rush Hour Prowler’ has received a sixyear sentence after he admitted 14 sex attacks on women and schoolgirls as young as eight.
Kevin Bond, 52, was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday after a campaign of assaults in which he crept up on and groped unsuspecting victims across south London.
Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams QC said Bond launched his campaign of sexual assaults after he began watching porn and using cocaine. He was said to have grown apart from his wife after buying the Club 34 nightspot in Croydon, south London.
Bond was nicknamed the “Rush Hour Prowler” for his habit of committing offences between 8am and 10am, and at about 5pm, for more than a year.
He first struck in October 2016 when he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old in Orpington.
Bond was finally caught in January this year after he was identified by CCTV which showed him sprinting away from the scene of an attack.
Police charged him over two attacks, but at first he denied any involvement, claiming it was a case of mistaken identity. But after his victims were lined up in an identity parade, the predator broke down and confessed to 14 sexual assaults between October
2016 and last November.
Met Police officers initially believed Bond was behind 26 attacks and asked for more victims to come forward.
Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, said the offences saw Bond following young females on their way to school or work.
“He would spot them, grab them and their private parts and then run away. His youngest victim was aged just eight years old.”
Bond assaulted an 11-year-old girl in Herne Hill on Sept 18 last year and went on to attack five 13-year-olds in Orpington, Lewisham, Blackheath and Lee in south-east London.
He assaulted a 12-year-old in Lee during the morning rush hour on Sept 28, then molested a 13-year-old that evening in Greenwich.
The Met released CCTV showing Bond running away from an attack on a 15-year-old girl in Brockley on Nov 22 last year.
Det Ch Supt Andrew Furphy, who led the investigation for Lewisham police, said: “We are aware that there might be further victims who have not yet spoken to police.
“If you are a victim, or know someone who has been a victim of a sexual assault, I can assure you your information will be treated with strict confidence and sensitivity. We can also access specialist support where needed.”
Radhia Karaa, the district crown prosecutor, said: “Kevin Bond carried out a series of sexual assaults on young women, including children, in southeast London… I hope this conviction brings some closure to his victims.”
Bond, who has a £675,000 home in Chislehurst, admitted 11 counts of sexual assault and three charges of sexual assault on a child under 13.