September 2021 Ex-Rochdale FC player jailed after raping and sexually abusing girls An ex-Rochdale AFC footballer has been jailed for 24 years after being convicted of raping and sexually abusing a number of girls. Jonathan Diba Musangu, 23, abused the girls, some of who were as young as seven, over a five-year period. Minshull Street Crown Court heard that he exploited his ‘popularity and advantage’ to commit ‘dreadful’ acts of sexual abuse against children for his own sexual gratification. Following a lengthy trial in June and July this year, Musangu, of Chadderton, was found guilty of three counts of raping a child under 13, two counts of sexually assaulting a child under 13, two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of rape. He earlier admitted offenses of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and possession of extreme pornography. Yesterday, (September 24), Musangu was jailed for 24 years with an extended license period of four years. The trial, which was held at the Lowry Nightingale Court in Salford Quays, previously heard that Musangu frequently preyed on five young girls connected to his church. He first began abusing the girls when he was aged between 15 and 16, and the first victim was aged between seven and eight. His oldest victim was aged 19, and Musangu was 20 at the time when he assaulted her, it was said. The other victims were aged between 12 and 16. His youngest victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she was raped three times by the former goalkeeper. Standing in the witness box, she bravely read her victim impact statement. “I didn’t understand quite what happened to me, I was angry as all I had were the memories of you touching me, I didn’t understand what you did to me,” she said. “On most nights I would cry myself to sleep or stay up all night feeling sorry for myself wishing my life had been simpler. “I was kept awake by visions of you hurting me and every time I closed my eyes all I could see was you touching me.” The court heard that two of the victims, one aged between seven and eight, the other aged 10 or 11, were separately led by Musangu into a toilet under the pretext of ‘making up a dance’. He told one to lower her clothing and put her head on the toilet as he stood behind her, and told the other to do the same as he put her hands on her waist and moved his groin towards her. Reading from a statement, another victim said: “From that moment I felt ashamed of my body, I became a nervous child and I thought it was my fault. “I now know that sexual assault, no matter how little or minor, is sexual assault.” One girl, aged 12 at the time, was invited upstairs by Musangu under the pretext he wanted to tell her something. However, he pinned her on a bed and raped her, the court was told. He then took a photo of her and threatened to share it if she told anyone. “This experience has turned my life into a negative state over the last five years,” the victim said. “The amount of times I’ve tried to take my own life is uncountable. “You took advantage of me when I was vulnerable and naive – but you will suffer the consequences of this for the rest of your life.” Musangu encouraged another girl, who was 13, to send indecent videos of herself to him. He then asked the girl to perform oral sex on him, but when she refused he forced her by grabbing the girl’s head. Another victim told the court: “I told you no, no and no, but that wasn’t enough for you. “I’m terrified of the person you are. “You have caused me to turn away from God as we cannot serve the same God. “Only a monster can produce this evil – I feared God and now you have caused me to fear man more.” The final younger victim said in a statement: “I deserve better, we deserve better and we deserve to be happy but sadly we are stuck with this forever.” Musangu also engaged in sexual contact with a minor, aged 13, over social media, the jury heard. Over a three-year period, Musangu sent and received explicit sexual videos with a teenage girl. The pair attempted to have sex while she was underage. Musangu’s only adult victim told the court that he came round to her home after a disagreement between the pair. He then raped her. Musangu went on to deny the allegations and said those accusing him were attempting to ruin his life and were lying. He was said to have no previous convictions. Mitigating, David Bruce told the court that his client was aware that he would receive a lengthy custodial sentence. “His one main goal in life was to be a professional footballer – that is never going to happen,” he said. “He has been and will be banned for life.” Mr Bruce added that Musangu was under 18 when some of the offences were committed. Sentencing, Judge John Potter told him: “The offences you fall to be sentenced for illustrate you as being, even in this early stage of your life, a predatory sex offender with a sexual interest in abusing children and in particular, girls sometimes as young as seven. “You are a young man who has been given advantages in your life. “Selfishly, in my judgement, you decided to exploit this popularity to commit the dreadful acts of child abuse for the purpose for your own perverted sexual gratification. “You manipulated and lied to your victims, you displayed a sense of arrogance in the way you treated your victims as objects only to satisfy your desires.” The judge concluded that Musangu was a ‘dangerous offender’ under the sentencing provisions as he ‘presented a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm’. Musangu, of Fernhurst Street, was jailed for 24 years with an extended licence period of four years. He will serve two thirds of his sentence before he is considered for release by the parole board. July 2021 Ex-Rochdale footballer carried from courtroom sobbing after being found guilty of rape and sexually abusing children An ex-Rochdale AFC footballer fell to his knees and sobbed after a jury found him guilty of raping and sexually abusing six girls and a woman over a five-year period. The Lowry Nightingale Court, in Salford Quays, heard how Jonathan Diba Musangu frequently preyed on young girls connected to his church. Some of his victims were as young as seven-years-old at the time of the incidents. After a four-week trial, the 23-year-old was found guilty of four counts of raping a child under 13, two counts of sexually assaulting a child under 13, two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of sexual activity with a child, and one count of rape. Musangu, a former goalkeeper, of Fernhurst Street, Chadderton, earlier admitted a further charge of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. Musangu, who also played for FC United of Manchester, Ashton United and Mossley AFC, was found guilty of 11 of the 13 charges put against him by a unanimous verdict. He fell to his knees against a barrier in the courtroom, and sobbed loudly. The hearing had to be paused whilst court staff carried him from the room. Whilst he was leaving, Musangu cried out “I never did this, I don’t understand, it doesn’t make any sense”, whilst a member of his family clutched his head in his hands and cried. Another family member could be heard screaming in shock from outside the courtroom, after she stumbled outside to see Musangu once he’d been removed. The former footballer was also found guilty of rape of a child under 13 by a 10-2 majority, whilst the four men and eight women also found him not guilty of a count of rape. The jury’s deliberations took just over 15 hours. Throughout the trial, jurors were told that Musangu frequently preyed on young girls connected to his church. His victims were as young as seven-years-old at the time of the incidents, with the oldest being a 19-year-old woman. His youngest victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court that she was raped three times by the goalkeeper at his home when she was aged seven and eight. Another seven-or-eight year old victim said Musangu led her into a church toilet when they were ‘making up a dance’ — where he told her to put her hands on the toilet and lower her clothing, to make her a good dancer. That incident came after Musangu had led another girl, aged 10 or 11 — into the same bathroom and asked her to do the same, and put his hands on her waist. Musangu’s other four child victims were aged between 12 and 16. One girl, aged 14 at the time, went to a flat a family member was looking after in Rochdale. When Musangu arrived at the flat, he asked for a one night stand — which the victim refused, as she did when he asked the girl for oral sex. After the second refusal, Musangu exposed his penis, grabbed the girl’s head, and forced her to perform oral sex. The court was also told that Musangu attacked a 12-year-old on the day of her prom. When getting changed, Musangu asked her to massage his leg — before saying he had something to tell her in the upstairs bedroom. When the pair got up to the top floor, Musangu ordered the girl to take off her clothes. When she refused, he pinned her down to the bed, covered her mouth, removed her clothes, and raped her. He then took photos of the victim and threatened to share them if she told anyone about the attack. Musangu also engaged in sexual contact with a minor over social media, the jury heard. Over a three-year period, Musangu sent and received explicit sexual videos with a teenage girl. The pair attempted to have sex while she was underage. Their contact started when she was just 13-years-old. Musangu’s only adult victim told the court that he came round to her student accommodation after a disagreement between the pair. Judge John Potter told the defendant: “I want to make it very clear to you that I haven’t made any decisions yet as to the sentence you will receive or whether you should or shouldn’t be on bail until it is given. “I will decide the latter tomorrow morning, when you must attend Minshull Street court.” Musangu has been bailed in order to appear at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court tomorrow morning, where a sentencing date will be set.