A married dad sexually assaulted girls as young as five, meeting them through churches and his job as a youth worker, a court heard today.

Jason Hoyte, 37, from Bromley, is accused of carrying out sexual assaults over a 20 year period. Inner London Crown Court heard the alleged assaults worsened in their severity, finally culminating in "the sexual predator" having sex with three 13 and 14-year-old girls in 2004.

A married "family man" with young children, Hoyte met the girls through churches he frequented in Upper Norwood, West Norwood and Brixton, prosecutor Nicholas Atkinson told the jury.

"He would win trust with the families, with their parents before the abuse took place," said Mr Atkinson.

"Sometimes the abuse would take place in their own homes."

The court heard from 2004 Mr Hoyte also did youth work at a Lambeth Council-backed scheme in West Norwood, where he groomed three girls he had sex with.

Mr Atkinson said: "He took advantage of the trust placed in him in that position (a youth worker) to target and groom girls for sexual abuse."

The court heard Mr Hoyte admitted to police he had told one girl he "loved her, but only as a friend" and he had sent them inappropriate and flirtatious text messages, and knew another had a crush on him.

In total Hoyte abused nine victims from 1987 to 2006, the court heard. His first attacks involved "very young girls" in South Norwood, who he would grope and rub to give himself sexual pleasure, Mr Atkinson told the court.

More serious assaults that took place with three girls aged under 16, who he had groomed between 2004 and 2006.

He is accused of penetrating their vaginas, once with his finger and four times with his penis, the court was told.

The court heard how he would befriend teenagers, "acting towards them like an older brother."

He would use inappropriate language and send then late night text messages, the court heard.

He had been banned from various churches he attended because of " concerns" about his behaviour, the court heard.

But it was when Mr Hoyte, described by the prosecution as a skilled singer and musician, was allowed back to a Brixton church in 2008 to sing at a concert that he was finally caught, the court heard.

One of the girls, now 15, told another member of the congregation he was the man "she had lost her virginity to", the jury was told.

The church's leadership was informed and a police investigation was launched centr ed around the three girls he had sex with, the court heard.

The police obtained details of inappropriate text messages he had sent to girls and was charged.

After hearing of the investigation, a fourth woman, who said she was abused while a child member of a West Norwood church some 17 years before, came forward, the court heard.

Then following the publication of an article in a community newspaper, more women who claimed they were abused as children came forward. The court heard in an interview with police, Mr Hoyte admitted having "involuntary erections" when with some of the children.

His first alleged victim, who was six or seven at the time of the offence, had challenged him many years later to go on the Jeremy Kyle TV show to take a lie detector test about the abuse she tried to report, but no - one believed, the court heard.

The TV programme's researchers had written back to her telling them the allegations were too serious for the show, Mr Atkinson told the court.

The victim had sent Mr Hoyte a text message that said: "Your family don't want the truth, they just want their innocent little choir boy, they don't know he's carrying out the devil's work."

Mr Atkinson told the court why it took so long for Mr Hoyte to be caught.

He said: "The children didn't complain, possibly they knew no better. If mentioned to their parents, the full extent of their abuse was not identified. Adults were hesitant in what to do, possibly they didn't want to believe the complaints. They certainly wished the problems would go away.

"The solution appeared to be to avoid contact with the defendant or ban him from their homes. He moved on to others and continued to get away with it."

He added: "Victims reacted in different ways, sometimes speaking to friends, sometimes parents, not always revealing the full story.

"But memories live with them and you will hear memories of abuse trigger reaction when the defendant is seen again after a few years."

Mr Hoyte, of Court Farm Road, denies 17 counts of indecent assault and five cases of sexual activity with a child.

The trial continues.