This is the former US Air Force captain on trial accused of kidnapping a nine-year-old French girl outside Harrods before allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her.
The court heard Robert Prussak, 57, approached the confused child after she became separated from her family when they entered the historic store while on holiday in London.
CCTV footage shown in court shows the American pilot enjoying lunch at Gaucho, shortly before walking past Harrods and spotting the young girl looking for her parents.
After initially walking past the child, he returns to approach her and begins speaking to her through a translation app.
Prussak, who served in the U.S. military for nearly two decades, was then seen leading the young girl to a serviced apartment where he was staying a quarter-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 child after she was separated from her family when they entered the historic store while on holiday in London
The girl is held for almost two hours at the Chelsea Cloisters apartment, where Isleworth Crown Court heard she was drugged with an ‘antihistamine with apparent sedative effects’
She previously told the court she was sitting on his sofa watching TV and he offered her two glasses of water, which she said she drank.
She said the water tasted “bitter and a bit strange,” and that she felt tired after drinking it.
“I felt like closing my eyes and going to sleep,” she said.
She said she was then taken to a nearby park where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
‘He touched my stomach…He pulled down my pants. He kissed me on both cheeks and on the mouth,” she said.
CCTV footage later shows Prussak dropping the girl off at the Kensington fire station, where she frantically tries to open the locked doors.
When she cannot get in, she runs back to her captor and the pair are approached by armed police officers who arrest the pilot.
Prussak, who served in the US military for almost 20 years, was then seen leading the young girl from outside Harrods (pictured) to a serviced apartment where he was staying half a mile away.
The child’s concerned 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 fascinated by the size of the building that they didn’t pay attention to the children for a moment’.
Her father said he spent the day traveling around London with his wife and three children, visiting Buckingham Palace before stopping at Harrods.
He said the family realized his daughter was not with them when they entered the department store, adding: “We started to panic.”
He told the court how his wife began searching for their child in the street outside, while he looked into the expansive store.
Harrods staff checked CCTV footage and police arrived, who soon showed him a harrowing image of his daughter walking away with a man he didn’t recognise.
“I understood 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 photo of the man, I thought she could have been kidnapped,” he said.
The girl’s mother also described the moment police showed her the photo of her daughter running away with a strange man.
“I was at a loss for words, I couldn’t believe it,” she 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 representative at Harrods who translated for the parents.
She said department store staff sprang into action after parents informed them their child was missing.
She said the girl’s father appeared to be having a “mental breakdown”, adding: “He felt very uncomfortable with the situation…I remember there were times when I even saw him crying.”
Prussak, who appeared in court from custody, denies three charges of sexual abuse of a child under 13.
He also denies one charge of kidnapping, one charge of committing an indictable offence, namely kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offence, and one charge of administering a drug with intent.
The process continues.