This is the former US Air Force captain who is on trial accused of kidnapping a nine-year-old French girl outside Harrods before allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her.
The court heard that Robert Prussak, 57, approached the girl in confusion after she was separated from her family as they entered the historic store during a holiday in London.
Security cameras shown in court show the American pilot enjoying lunch at Gaucho shortly before passing by Harrods and seeing the young woman looking for her parents.
After initially walking past the girl, he returns to approach her and begins talking to her through a translation app.
Prussak, who served in the US military for almost 20 years, was then seen taking the young woman to a serviced apartment he was staying at half a mile away.
Robert Prussak (pictured), 57, is on trial accused of kidnapping a nine-year-old French girl outside Harrods before allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her.
Prussack (pictured) approached the confused girl after she was separated from her family when they entered the historic store during a holiday in London.
The girl remains inside the Chelsea Cloisters flat for almost two hours, where Isleworth Crown Court heard she was drugged with an “antihistamine with marked sedative effects”.
Earlier, she told the court she sat on his couch watching TV and he offered her two glasses of water, which she said she drank.
She said the water tasted “bitter and a little strange” and that she felt tired after drinking it.
“I wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep,” he said.
She said they then took her to a nearby park, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
‘He touched my belly… He pulled down my pants. “He kissed me on both cheeks and on the mouth,” she said.
CCTV later shows Prussak dropping the girl off at Kensington fire station, where she frantically tries to open the locked doors.
When she can’t get in, she runs back to her kidnapper and then armed police officers approach the couple and arrest the pilot.
Prussak, who served in the US Army for almost 20 years, was then seen taking the young woman from outside Harrods (pictured) to a serviced apartment he was staying in half a mile away.
The girl’s worried parents raised the alarm within minutes of her disappearance and described their panic to the court via video link.
They had told police that when they entered Harrods they were “so mesmerized by the size of the building that they momentarily did not pay attention to the children.”
His father said he had spent the day traveling around London with his wife and three children, visiting Buckingham Palace before stopping at Harrods.
He said the family realized their daughter was not with them when they entered the department store, adding: “We started to panic.”
He told the court how his wife began looking for their son in the street, while he looked inside the sprawling store.
Harrods staff checked CCTV and police arrived, soon showing her a harrowing image of her daughter walking away with a man she didn’t recognise.
“I realized it was much more serious than I thought,” he said.
“At first, as the minutes passed, I thought she was lost, but when I saw the man’s photo I thought she might have been kidnapped,” she said.
The girl’s mother also described the moment police showed her the photo of her daughter walking away with a strange man.
“I was speechless, I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“I was very stressed, but I tried to stay calm for the other kids.”
The jury also heard evidence from a French-speaking customer service worker at Harrods who translated for the parents.
She said department store staff swung into action after parents informed them their son was missing.
She said the girl’s father seemed to have a “mental breakdown,” adding: “He was very uncomfortable with the situation… I remember there were times when I even saw him crying.”
Prussak, who appeared in court in custody, denies three charges of sexual assault on a child under 13.
He also denies one count of kidnapping, one count of committing the offense of kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offense and one count of administering a substance with intent.
The trial continues.
