A father-of-three has been found guilty of raping five women after meeting them on dating website Match.com.
Jason Lawrance, who police described as a "sexual predator", contacted thousands of womens online and committed three sex attacks just months after getting married to someone he met through the site.
The 50-year-old from Leicestershire was also convicted of attempts to rape and sexually assault two other women after speaking to them online.
Lawrance, a former company director turned self-employed builder, texted one of his victims after attacking her to apologise for "hurting her", also saying: "When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn't, I'm so mad at myself xxx."
The jury heard that one of the women was raped by him in the back of a van which he had parked in a field in Northamptonshire, while another had been attacked at her home while her son was asleep in a nearby bedroom.
Lawrance was arrested after a friend of a woman who was raped in November 2014 went to police.
- Predator 'preyed on divorced and widowed women'
Investigations then found he had sexually attacked another six women he met through the site since 2011 - having used profile names such as KeepItStraightToday and StraightMan--Looking.
Prosecutors said he was a Jekyll and Hyde character who had targeted "vulnerable" women, some of whom were divorced or widowed.
Detective Chief Inspector Allison Rigby from Derbyshire Police said the trial had been "devastating" for the victims, adding that she hoped it would give dating sites a chance to ensure they have a "robust process" for dealing with complaints about user behaviour.
Lawrance had denied all charges, saying the sex was consensual in all five allegations of rape, that the attempted rape was a misunderstanding and that the sexual assault where he grabbed a woman's breast was a "loving touch" which she had objected to, so he apologised.
A jury took 10 hours to convict him of all charges. He has been remanded in custody until sentencing on Thursday.


No comments:
Post a Comment