Blackpool predator groomed teenage girls with booze and cigarettes before persuading them to meet up for sex

Cristian Piscureanu, 26, and a number of other men befriended the girls – who were aged between 13 and 15 – around the European supermarket in Central Drive between March and May 2019.

The men bought the girls gifts as well as cigarettes and drinks before persuading them to meet up at various locations at night, including the beach, 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 men 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.

Following a three day trial at Preston Crown Court, he was found guilty of rape and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He will be sentenced on May 5.

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.”