Pair found guilty of 'countless' rapes of girls

Absalom Sigiyo (left) and Romulad Stefan Houphouet (right) were both found guilty on Monday

Two men have been found guilty of multiple sexual offences after a court heard how two teenagers were regularly raped over a period of months in Rotherham.

The girls were sexually assaulted several times a week over six months by a gang of men who referred to the teenagers as "fresh meat", Sheffield Crown Court heard during a five-week trial.

Romulad Stefan Houphouet, who is now 37, and Absalom Sigiyo, now 41, were found guilty of a number of offences including rape.

Houphouet, of Burngreave in Sheffield, and Sigiyo, of Catcliffe, in Rotherham, would be sentenced on Wednesday, Judge Sarah Wright said as she remanded both men in custody.

A third defendant, Jacek Brzozowski, now 35, was cleared of the one charge he was facing in the trial, of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

However, Brzozowski, of Rawmarsh, Rotherham, admitted a charge of penetrative sexual activity with a child earlier this year.

He was bailed and will be sentenced on 14 April.

'Chaotic lives'

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the charges related to offences committed in 2011 and 2012, when the two victims were residents in a children's home.

The victims described living "chaotic lives" they wanted to escape, and Houphouet and Sigiyo took advantage of their vulnerability, giving them cigarettes and alcohol before demanding sex in return, the NCA said.

The agency said the victims had been raped "countless" times, with one victim reporting being raped two to three times a week by Sigiyo, and once waking up to find him attempting to rape her.

The other victim told investigators Houphouet was possessive and once raped her in an act of revenge after finding Brzozowski - his lodger - having sex with her at one of their parties.

While under investigation for rape, Sigiyo approached one of the women on the street and pressured her to tell police he was innocent, the NCA said.

Instead, she reported the incident, and he was further charged and found guilty of intimidation.

Jacek Brzozowski was cleared of the one charge he was facing in the trial, but admitted another charge and will be sentenced in April

Following the trial, Senior Investigating Officer Kath Blain said: "This is one of the most harrowing cases I have investigated. The victims have shown extraordinary bravery in reporting their abuse."

"What happened to them can never be undone, but I hope the verdicts will at least give them a sense that their abusers have been held to account and justice has been done."

Martin McRobb, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The victims in this case are now adults, but they have had to live with the trauma caused by the vile and serious sexual offences committed against them in their youth."

The convictions are the latest as part of the NCA's investigation, known as Operation Stovewood, into child sexual sexploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

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