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US Air Force Captain Robert Prussak has been acquitted of charges of kidnapping outside Harrods and sexual assault. He is accused of taking indecent images of a child: The 57-year-old pilot was arrested on a separate charge moments after the acquittal

A US Air Force captain has been charged with making indecent images of a child after he was acquitted of kidnapping, drugging and then sexually assaulting a nine-year-old French girl.

Robert Prussak, 57, was accused of kidnapping the student outside London's famous Harrods department store on April 22.

The American collapsed yesterday as “not guilty” verdicts were read out on all six charges against him at Isleworth Crown Court.

But shortly after leaving the courtroom to celebrate his freedom, Prussak was dramatically arrested on suspicion of possessing and making an indecent image of a child.

It follows a Metropolitan Police investigation into child sex offenses after an indecent image was allegedly found on an electronic device.

Father-of-two Prussak, of no fixed address, was arrested overnight after the Met announced on Wednesday morning that he had been charged with child abuse offences.

He has been in custody since then and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today.

Robert Prussak, 57, was arrested on Tuesday following a Metropolitan Police investigation into child abuse offences

Prussak was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court today (archive photo)

Prussak was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court today (archive photo)

During his trial at Isleworth Crown Court, jurors were told how Prussak had approached the child outside Harrods after he became separated from his family while on holiday in London on April 22.

Prosecutors claimed he then took her back to his hotel apartment and drugged her – before taking her to Hyde Park and touching her inappropriately.

But Mr. Prussak's testimony was that he was “just trying to help the girl,” who cannot be named for legal reasons, and that he wanted to keep her “safe.”

The American airman also told jurors that he decided to help when he spotted them because he wanted someone to help his own daughters.

He said: “When I spotted her I thought she seemed lost because she was looking around – like she was looking for someone.”

“But then I thought maybe she was waiting for someone in the store, so I moved on.”

“But as I did that, I thought: What if she gets lost – and needs help? My thoughts went straight to my daughters, who are a few years older than her.

“I thought if my daughters were lost in a big city, I wouldn’t want them to be stuck there alone.”

The pilot spoke to the girl and she responded in a different language, so he began communicating with her using the Google Translate app, jurors heard.

The American, of no fixed address, was today charged with one count of possessing an indecent image of a child and one count of making an indecent image of a child

The American, of no fixed address, was today charged with one count of possessing an indecent image of a child and one count of making an indecent image of a child

Mr. Prussak said he asked the girl how long it had been since she had seen her parents and she raised three fingers, which he said meant three minutes.

He claimed to have asked the nine-year-old if her parents went shopping, but said the girl told him her family had gone to a museum but wasn't sure which one.

Mr Prussak said he walked with the girl towards a museum to “hopefully intercept the parents” and looked for police stations on his phone and “surprisingly they were quite far away”.

Pressed about his intention, he said, “To protect her and reunite her with her parents.”

Mr. Prussak said his goal was to “stay on the path to a museum and provide her with safety and comfort.”

When asked why they didn't go to the museum, he replied that it had started to rain harder and they hadn't seen the girl's parents.

The pilot said they went to his apartment to look for a police station because his apartment was “very close” and he knew “how to get there quickly.”

He said: “I had found three police stations on Google Maps but there didn't seem to be any direct route to any of them.”

“It started to rain and the rain dripped onto my phone. Since my apartment was nearby, I thought it would be best to go there.”

There he gave her a drink of water and let her watch TV.

When the girl's urine was tested after she was found, diphenhydramine – the active ingredient in Benadryl – was detected, leading to allegations that Mr Prussak had spiked the drink he gave her with the sedative.

But tests of the lenses in Mr. Prussak's apartment showed no evidence of Benadryl.

said Mr. Prussak The girl used the word “bite,” and after a few discussions, he concluded she meant “bitter,” then tested his own water from the same bottle and said it tasted “normal.”

Mr Prussak said he and the girl left his apartment after he found a nearby fire station on his iPad – where he planned to seek help.

They followed a Google Maps route that took them through Hyde Park – and later encountered police officers outside the Israeli embassy.

The father-of-two also told jurors he decided to help when he spotted her because he wanted someone to help his own daughters

The father-of-two also told jurors he decided to help when he spotted her because he wanted someone to help his own daughters

Mr. Prussak had insisted to jurors: “I didn't touch anything.” [the girl] in the way she described it. I'm not sure why she would say that.'

Asked by his lawyer if he would have done things differently now, he admitted: “In hindsight, knowing her parents were now in Harrods, the best solution would have been to stay there or go in.”

“But at that point I was told they weren’t shopping, so I figured I’d have to find the parents or the police.”

Catherine Donnelly, defending, put it to him that he had thrown Benadryl into the water and asked him if he had done that, to which he replied “no”.

Then she asked, “The accusation is that you did this to put her to sleep or drug her or something like that, did you do that?”

Mr. Prussak replied: “No.”

Mr Donnelly asked her client why he had not called the police.

Mr Prussak said: “I absolutely regret not calling the police sooner.” I had never done it before and didn't know what reaction I would get.

“I was afraid they were going to send the cavalry and the ambulances and everything. “I thought I could get there more efficiently.”

The jury saw CCTV footage of the moment Mr Prussak encountered the girl outside Harrods.

The pilot was seen walking past the girl before stopping to speak to her. They then communicated on his phone for a while before leaving together.

The girl's father, speaking by video from France, told jurors that Harrods staff had checked the department store's CCTV after he told them their daughter was missing.

When the police arrived, the girl's parents gave them a photo of their daughter to make the search easier.

The court heard the girl got lost while visiting the department store with her family (file photo)

The court heard the girl got lost while visiting the department store with her family (file photo)

The father said an officer then showed him a photo of his daughter walking away with an unknown man, at which point he began to believe she had been kidnapped.

“At first, as the minutes passed, I thought she was lost, but when I saw the man's picture, I thought she might have been kidnapped,” he said.

The girl's mother added: “I was at a loss for words, I couldn't believe it.”

“It was very stressful, we were up in the lounges at Harrods. “I was very stressed, but I tried to stay calm for the children.”

The jury found the pilot not guilty on all counts he was charged with: kidnapping, kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual offense, intentional administration of a substance and three counts of sexual assault.

The court heard that Mr Prussak was a US Air Force pilot for 18.5 years.

He then became a pilot at Walmart before later working as a “pilot for hire” so that he could visit his daughters more often after his divorce from his wife.

He was in London for a job interview in April.

After reading out the verdicts, Judge Edward Connell said: “He is discharged.”

On Tuesday at Isleworth Crown Court, Metropolitan Police arrested a man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

He was taken to a police station and remains in custody.