November 2013

Internationally renowned concert pianist found guilty of groping a 15-year-old while French-kissing her mother

• Robin Zebaida, 49, convicted of sexually assaulting teenager in his flat
  

• Oxford-educated music teacher stroked teen’s thigh as he kissed mother

• Girl was drunk after drinking miniature bottles of alcohol, court hears

• Zebaida given conditional discharge and must sign sex offenders’ register

An internationally renowned concert pianist has been found guilty of groping a 15-year-old girl while simultaneously French-kissing her mother.

Oxford-educated Robin Zebaida, 49, was convicted of sexually assaulting the teenager after he touched her chest and stroked her thigh and bottom as she sat on the sofa in his flat.

The girl had accompanied Zebaida and her mother on a date to a restaurant earlier that day, before the trio returned to his flat in St John’s Wood, London.

The jury at Isleworth Crown Court heard how the love-struck widow had romantically pursued Royal College Of Music graduate Zebaida after meeting him on a Mediterranean cruise, sending him boxes of chocolates and arranging dates in London. 

She told the court she wanted things to go further and, following their meal out on November 24 last year, had joined Zebaida and her daughter, who had been drinking alcohol, on a two-seater sofa in his flat.

His arms were around both their shoulders when, without the mother realising, Zebaida began stroking the girl under her top.

‘While embracing them in that way Mr Zebaida, as he brought his hand down on the girl’s hip, put his hand under the top she was wearing on her bare flesh’, said prosecutor Mark Gadsden.

‘He stroked her there and moved his hand up to her breast, where her bra was, but did not touch her breast.

‘He started kissing the mother, ‘smooching’ as the daughter described it, French-kissing.

‘The daughter then lay on the floor, complaining of the effects of the alcohol the defendant plied them both with, she had been drinking miniatures, and consumed more than the adults.’

Mr Gadsden added: ‘He coaxed her back on to the couch and caressed her thigh and bottom in a slow and deliberate way.

‘He also kissed her on the neck and she felt unable to stop it happening.

‘The mother never saw any of this sexual touching of her daughter and the defendant may have been disinhibited from the effects of the alcohol, the music, the romance.’

After he was found guilty by the jury, Zebaida, who had denied the charge, was given a conditional discharge lasting two years and was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register.

He was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

During his career Zebaida had taught music masterclasses to youngsters all over the world with the British Council and was an approved examiner with the Royal College of Music.

His date to an Iranian restaurant had been the fourth involving both the girl and her mother, with the group having previously met at the Steinway studios, where Zebaida was practising, and at the Imperial War Museum.

‘We sat on the sofa and he put some music on and we had some alcoholic drinks,’ the mother told the jury. 

‘My daughter had one or two vodka miniatures and I think he had some whiskey.

‘He had an arm around each of us and he kissed me, which turned into a french kiss.

‘It was a bit of a surprise.

‘He had an arm around my waist and an arm around my daughter’s back and French-kissed me several times within bouts of conversation.’

The court was told that the teenager had reluctantly shared the sofa-bed with her mother that night.

‘She was uncomfortable with Robin and she wanted to leave,’ the mother said.

‘She told me his hand had been under her shirt and against her stomach.’

The mother said that the pair had left early in the morning, despite the defendant encouraging them to stay.

‘He said we should stay longer and began cuddling me and started undoing my bra,’ she told the court.

The girl, whose brother and father were killed in a car crash, later shared her experience with a counsellor three months later, who told police, resulting in Zebaida’s arrest and charge.

During his trial Zebaida said the accusation meant he had to decline performance work worth £15,000 to £20,000.

‘I was absolutely stunned, shocked and could not comprehend how this could have been made. It made no sense,’ he told the jury.

The British-born defendant, who has a diploma in physiology and massage, said he did touch the woman’s daughter lightly because of back problems caused by the fatal car crash.

‘At the museum she said she had a bit of a sore back and I just touched her and when she played the piano I suggested that she sat a little more straight and just touched her on the shoulder.’