Married man guilty of sexually abusing teenage girls in Blackpool

A 26-year-old man has been found guilty of sexually abusing three teenage girls in Blackpool in 2019.

Cristian Piscureanu along with other males befriended the girls, who were aged between 13 and 15 years, around the European supermarket on Central drive in Blackpool between March and May 2019.

The men offered them cigarettes and drinks and bought them gifts before persuading them to meet up at various locations, including the beach, at night where they would engage in sexual activity with them.

Piscureanu admitted that he knew one of the girls as she lived in the same area and that he and some other males had gone with her to the beach. He also admitted he knew the second girl and had been to the beach with her. He claimed he had heard the third girl's name and that she had come to the park with the other girls. However he denied that any sexual activity was encouraged nor ever took place.

He was found guilty of rape and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity on Thursday 2 February following a three-day trial at Preston Crown Court.

Brett Gerrity, Senior Crown Prosecutor with the North West Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said: "Cristian Piscureanu is a sexual predator who targeted young and impressionable girls. He groomed them with gifts and cigarettes and alcohol in order to abuse them in the most appalling way.

"I would like to thank the three young girls for their immense courage in coming forward, without whom this prosecution would not have been possible.

"We would like to encourage any person who has been the victim of sexual abuse to report this to the police."