Prussak allegedly, approached the girl outside UK’s marquee luxury store Harrods, after she became separated from her family

Robert Prussak Tuesday was acquitted by court in London, on charges related to abducting and raping a nine-year-old visiting from France with her family, on April 22, 2024

He was accused of taking the child to his apt., drugging her with antihistamine Benadryl, before the sexually assault

Arrested, he was charged with three counts sexual assault of a child under the age of 13, kidnapping with an intent to commit a sexual offense, and administering a substance with intent

The former US Air Force pilot, 57, had denied all the charges leveled against him

Prussak broke down in the dock as he was acquitted and told he was free to go, after being cleared by the jury

There was proof of sexual assault and the defendant was found not guilty on all counts

Former US Air Force pilot, Robert Prussak, [photo], was cleared of kidnapping, drugging and child molestation by a UK court on Tuesday

Robert Prussak, 57, is not guilty of kidnapping or raping a young child he abducted outside UK’s marquee luxury department store, Harrods, earlier this year.
The former US Air Force pilot had denied all the charges leveled against him. Today he was cleared of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl after approaching the child who was visiting England from France with her family.
According to the lawsuit heard at London’s Westminster Magistrate’s Court, Prussak approached the girl on April 22, after she became separated from her family during the trip.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was standing outside the department store in Knightsbridge, a trial at Isleworth Crown Court heard, when Mr Prussak offered to help her.
According to the prosecution, Prussak walked with her to his apartment where he gave her bitter-tasting water allegedly containing the antihistamine Benadryl, which left her tired, before he took her to Hyde Park and sexually assaulted her.

The former US Air Force pilot allegedly, approaching the child outside Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, on April 22, after she became separated from her family during a trip to London

Prussak was arrested later on the same day after he and the girl were spotted walking past the Israeli embassy by a Metropolitan Police officer who had been informed she was missing.
He was searched and said, “I was just trying to help her out”, according to Sergeant Edward Lucas.
Prussak denied all the charges against him and a jury has today found him not guilty.
Judge Edward Connell told Prussak, who broke down in the dock as he was acquitted, that he was free to go.
Jurors had asked if there was any DNA evidence of the sexual assault just over an hour after they started deliberating yesterday, and Judge Connell said there was not.
He was found not guilty of three counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.
He was also cleared of one count of kidnapping, one count of committing an offense of kidnapping with an intent to commit a sexual offense, and one count of administering a substance with intent.

I saw the girl and thought she was “waiting for somebody” and might need help. ‘My “mind went straight to my own daughters who are just a few years older than her and I thought if my daughters were lost in a big city, I wouldn’t want them stuck out alone”‘ – Prussak

During his testimony on Friday, Prussak clarified that he was on his way to Buckingham Palace when he saw the girl and thought to himself that she was “waiting for somebody” and that she might need help.
“My mind went straight to my own daughters who are just a few years older than her and I thought if my daughters were lost in a big city, I wouldn’t want them stuck out alone,” Prussak told the jury, adding that
his attempts to communicate was garbled because the child replied in another language, so they began using a translation app to communicate.
He inquired if her parents were going shopping and she wrote down something that translated as “muse”, Prussak said. He took that to mean, “museum”, but she did not know which one.
Asked why he did not stay with the girl outside Harrods, he said: “In honesty, knowing everything I know now, that they were inside Harrods, staying there or going inside would’ve been the best solution.” Instead, the defendant began walking her towards a museum, he claimed, to “hopefully intercept the parents” and searched for nearby police stations but “surprisingly they were fairly far”.
His intention was “to get her back with her parents” and keep her “safe and comfortable”.
Questioned on why he chose his apartment over heading for the museum, Prussak claimed it had begun raining heavily, and his apartment was “very close by”.