Father of girl maths prodigy is behind bars for sex attacks on teenagers

Farooq Yusof, 50, groped one of his victims during a tutoring session at her home and admitted another similar offence.

He has been remanded in custody until sentencing and faces at least a six-month jail term.

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Yusof's daughter, Sufiah, won an Oxford University place at 13. She ran away three years later claiming that her parents - who schooled her at home - had placed her under intolerable pressure to succeed.

Her father was arrested after touching a girl on the chest and attempting to kiss her as her parents watched television in a nearby room.

The victim's father said: "This man came across as intelligent, smooth-talking, charming. He said my daughter was very bright and that he would be able to further develop her skills.

"He even told us that his daughter went to Oxford - but he didn't tell us the rest of her story.

"He took a strong interest in our daughter. Now I realise it was for all the wrong reasons and he was just trying to groom her."

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Appearing under his real surname of Khan at Coventry Crown Court last week, the private tutor pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault. Neither victim can be identified, but they were not relatives of Khan.

Sexual assault carries a maximum jail term of 14 years, with a minimum of six months.

Pakistan-born Khan, who lives in Coventry, came into contact with his first victim - a state school pupil - after being recommended to her parents by a family friend.

He visited the family home once a month for hour-long intensive sessions in maths and English.

Khan had charged the parents just £10 a time and claimed the fees were so low because his research attracted Government funding.

Khan and his wife Halimahton, a scientist, gave up their jobs to educate their five children at home.

Sufiah was admitted to Oxford in 1997 but fled from St Hilda's College three years later, aged 15. She was found by police 12 days later working as a waitress but refused to return to her parents.

She was taken into care by a foster family and, in a searing e-mail to her parents, revealed the "living hell" she said her father had created.

In 2004, she married trainee lawyer Jonathan Marshall, who converted to Islam after they met at the university. Sufiah invited her parents, but they did not attend the ceremony at Oxford register office. The couple divorced 13 months later.

In 1992 Khan was jailed for three years for his part in a £1.5million mortgage fraud.

His wife, now 51, received a suspended prison sentence after a court heard she was living in a house with a tennis court while receiving £180 a week benefits.