A sex pest posed as missionary to convert Chinese people to Christianity so he could groom vulnerable Asian students, a court heard.
Andrew Rogers, 36, sneaked into meetings of Chinese students at Plymouth University in Devon – even though they are conducted in Mandarin.
The city’s magistrate’s court heard how Rogers followed foreign undergraduates into toilets, forced his way into their prayer meetings and harassed them by phone and text.
Rogers was given an interim ASBO to keep him away from the campus after being escorted off the premises more than 100 times in nine months.
But the former PhD student told magistrates the ban was unjust because he’s on a genuine mission to spread the word of God.
Plymouth uni officials barred Rogers in February last year when his course ended but he’s accused of repeatedly flouting the ban.
Whenever security guards challenged Rogers over his weird antics he would quote scripture from the bible, the court heard.
Prosecutor Dylan Sadler said: “The tip of the iceberg is his repeated anti-social behaviour, his frequent removals by police, his conviction for obstructing and resisting arrest.
“The bulk of the iceberg is what we say is his motivation. He was stalking and harassing a whole vulnerable community and individuals within that community for sexual grooming and control-related motivation.”
Rev David Evans, baptist minister and chaplain at the university, told the court he believed Rogers was faking his interest in Christianity.
He said: “He seemed to be concerned about spreading the Christian message to Chinese students but when advice was given to him on how to do that better he never took it seriously.
“He had a very bad reputation with members of staff, people were reluctant to work with him.
“He is, in my opinion, a deeply manipulative and dangerous person, using the faith to access young Asian students.”
Karine Yuen, the uni’s Chinese Christian fellowship leader, said Rogers began coming to church meetings even though they were conducted in the Mandarin language which he did not understand.
In a statement read to the court, Mrs Yuen said: “Deep down I knew Andrew Rogers would do something bad to the Chinese students.
“As a nationality we are quite shy, especially the boys, and if something happens they don’t want to let people know because they will lose face and be a shame to their parents.”
Rogers claims to be a “very devout Christian” and says his interest in Chinese culture stems from his loneliness and diagnosis with Asperger’s syndrome.
He denied targeting vulnerable students and told the court: “I feel more comfortable with Chinese people, I seemed to build up a relationship with them.
“I do not feel guilty in any way about befriending international students and making them feel welcome in my country.”
Rogers, of Plymouth, is subject to an interim anti-social behaviour order banning him from the university campus.
He is contesting an application for a full order.
The case continues.
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