A sick paedophile took a selfie with one of his victims moments after raping her in a bush, a court has heard.
Silvestar Toshev, 27, raped a 17-year-old girl in a London park in September 2021 and then dragged a 16-year-old girl into a bush as she cried “no, no, no” five months later – while he was still on bail for the first offence.
The second victim gave a heart-breaking statement at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday (October 17) where she said the terrifying attack left her with nightmares which cause her to wake up “shaking and screaming”.
She recalled feeling “unseen” when members of the public watched Toshev pick her up and take her away despite her begging him not to.
The court heard: “Many people saw this man pick me up and take me across the road. I knew this because they had to stop to watch him pass over. It made me feel unseen and alone. No-one was coming to save me.”
Toshev’s first victim was waiting at a bus stop in Surbiton when predator Toshev approached her, calling her “beautiful” and persuading her to go to a nearby grassy area where he started to kiss her.
The court heard she tried to move away and had agreed to take her tights off “because she was scared” before Toshev raped her, MyLondon reports.
Judge Mark Bryant-Heron KC told Toshev: “She had her head turned away from you when you raped her. She was not consenting. It must have been obvious to you.”
The victim was transformed from a “confident social person” to someone who does not like to go out alone, the court heard.
In her victim impact statement, the youngster said she had lost all self esteem and was experiencing thoughts of self-harm. She also revealed three universities’ offers had been withdrawn because of a drop in her school grades.
The second victim also met Toshev at a bus stop in London from where he followed her onto an empty bus and began speaking to her and touching her on the thigh.
As she rejected his advances and got off the bus, Toshev followed her, grabbed her hand to stop her getting away then picked her up and carried her away despite her cries.
When he tried to kiss her she turned her head away, so “in annoyance” Toshev turned her around and raped her, the court was told.
As with his first victim, the second victim also became withdrawn when she realised what was happening. In both cases, Toshev used his “superior physical force” to get what he wanted and later claimed it was all consensual.
But the Bulgarian national degraded his victim even more, forcing her to take photos with him moments after forcing himself upon her.
Judge Bryant-Heron told Toshev: “I find it a terrible disturbing detail of this case, having penetrated her without her consent, you asked if you could see her again and took selfies with her, pulling her to you.”
Prosecutor David Clarke said Toshev caused severe psychological harm to both victims and the offence was aggravated by his targeting of vulnerable young girls, one of whom he abducted.
Toshev’s refusal to accept his guilt meant both teenagers were force to relive their experiences in front of a jury under rigorous cross examination by the defence.
Defence barrister Isobel McCarroll said her client had come to Britain for a better life after a “very, very difficult childhood” as an orphan in Bulgaria and had now come to acknowledge his crimes.
She said: “He is sorry for all the pain and suffering he has caused the victims in this case. He accepts full responsibility for his actions.”
Judge Bryant-Heron, who noted Toshev’s remorse was “very recent”, sentenced him to 23 years for two counts of rape.
The judge told him: “You are assessed as a high risk of harm to children under the age of 18 and a high risk to women.
“The reason you chose young girls under 18 was for your sexual gratification because you thought they were more persuadable.
“You thought they were more likely to go with you initially because they lacked the life experience of a more mature adult to use effective measures to get rid of you.
“They were in that sense vulnerable. You knew that. You used that. You exploited that vulnerability.”
