Newcastle grooming gang rapist Eisa Mousavi jailed for 20 years after targeting vulnerable girls with drugs
A member of Newcastle’s notorious grooming network was jailed for 20 years after being convicted of repeatedly raping a teenage girl and using drugs as part of the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young victims.
Eisa Mousavi, then 42, was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court in 2017 of three counts of rape, two counts of supplying drugs, allowing premises to be used for the supply of drugs and conspiracy to incite prostitution.
Mousavi was one of 18 people — 17 men and one woman — convicted following a series of trials into the exploitation of vulnerable girls and young women in Newcastle’s West End. The wider offending involved almost 100 offences, including rape, trafficking, sexual exploitation and drug supply.
The victims were taken to parties known as “sessions”, where alcohol and drugs including cocaine and mephedrone, also known as M-Cat, were supplied. Some of the girls became so intoxicated they were unable to fight back before being sexually abused. Twenty women and girls gave evidence during the proceedings.
Mousavi took girls to his flat at Todds Nook in Newcastle’s West End. One teenage victim was raped by him three times. During one attack she was described in court as extremely drunk, while other girls outside the bedroom shouted at Mousavi to stop.
The prosecution said Mousavi responded by threatening that the girls would not receive any more drugs if they continued shouting.
Sentencing him to two decades behind bars, Judge Penny Moreland said Mousavi had shown “remarkable persistence over a long period” in targeting and grooming girls under the age of 16.
Mousavi was part of the network uncovered by Operation Shelter, an investigation stemming from Northumbria Police’s wider Operation Sanctuary inquiry into sexual exploitation. Shelter developed after vulnerable victims disclosed abuse to professionals and ultimately became one of the force’s largest investigations, with around 50 officers working on it full-time for almost three years.
The investigation exposed how vulnerable girls and young women were plied with drugs and alcohol before being sexually exploited at properties across Newcastle.
Seventeen members of the network were eventually jailed for a combined more than 180 years, with Mousavi receiving one of the longest individual sentences.
Sarah’s Law: If you are worried that someone who has contact with a child may pose a sexual risk, you can ask police for information through the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme.
This failure was linked to the conviction of Bahmani Ahmadi, highlighting ongoing issues within the police force’s handling of such cases.