A popular actor and respected business man has found himself in trouble after he slept with a 13-year-old girl he met on a sugar daddy website.
Ex-Dragons’ Den star, Doug Richard
An ex-Dragons’ Den star paid a 13-year-old girl hundreds of pounds for a grotesque sex session after meeting her on a 'sugar daddy' website, a court heard today.
Doug Richard, 57, allegedly spanked the teenager's bottom after arranging for her and a 15-year-old friend to join him at a £149-a-night apartment in London.
The Californian admits sexual activity with the girl but he claims it was consensual and he believed she was at least 16.
The Old Bailey heard how the businessman, who quit the BBC show after famously failing to invest a penny in the second series, paid the two teenagers £480 for the sordid session.
The married father-of-three had met the girl through an American website called Seeking Arrangements, where she had advertised herself as a "sugar baby", the jury heard.
The self-described "sugar daddy", who once acted as an advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron, asked the youngster if she could meet him after school.
But he told her he would wait until the following week if she sent him naked photos, adding: “Less clothing more revealing positions.”
After she sent the snaps in December 2014, Richard replied: “Think of that as your first task for your daddy. Get it wrong and I will just have to spank you.”
Prosecuting, Gino Connor said: “The male was an experienced 56-year-old at the time.
“It should have put him on notice, at that point having seen the photos of her that she was young, 13-years-old.”
Richard later used PayPal to transfer £120 and bought train tickets for her and her friend to travel from their home town of Norwich to London on January 2 last year, it is claimed.
He allegedly took the girls to a coffee shop near Liverpool Street station before saying: “Let's go somewhere private.”
Once back at the Bishopsgate apartment he asked the older girl if she wanted to be his slave, jurors were told.
The court heard that when she refused and told him she was not “into sex” he kissed her using his tongue, but she backed off and thought it was “horrible and smokey”.
Richard (second left) appeared in the first and second series of Dragons' Den
Richard then ordered the younger girl to strip and remove his own clothing, it was said. Mr Connor said the American then ordered her to perform a sex act on him, which she did, before he said: “Let's go to bed.”
The 13-year-old's friend refused Richard's invitation to watch, but she could hear what was happening in the room.
Mr Connor continued: “After he had finished they both dressed and the defendant gave the two girls £60 each."
Richard later transferred another £120 using PayPal to the girls, after once again asking the older girl if she was interested in having sex with him. Police were called after her mother noticed the transfer and Richard was arrested at the plush £115-a-night Lord Milner Hotel, in Belgravia, central London.
Richard said: “As you can see I'm in quite a lot of trouble. What if I thought she was over 16 but she was in fact under 16.”
When officers advised him to talk to his lawyer, Richard said: “Under 16, wow.”
Richard, of Islington, North London, denies three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and a charge of paying for sexual services of a child.
The trial continues and is expected to last five days.I
