Rapist and child abuser handed life sentence
Andrew Woodhouse was jailed for almost 19 years on Friday
- Published
A "sexual predator" who raped two women and subjected three others victims to a "catalogue of horrific abuse" has been given a life sentence.
Nottinghamshire Police said Andrew Woodhouse's crimes - which also included blackmail, sexual assault and causing a child to engage in sexual activity - spanned a 20-year period.
The 48-year-old denied most of the allegations but a jury found him the guilty of four rapes and other offences after a trial.
He was given a life sentence at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday and will have to serve a minimum term of 18 years and 329 days.
Jurors found Woodhouse, formerly of Long Eaton, Derbyshire, guilty of four rapes, indecent assault, three counts of engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour and two counts of assaulting a girl by touching.
He was also found guilty of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and two counts of causing a child to watch images of sexual activity.
Woodhouse had previously admitted four counts of blackmail and one count of possession of extreme pornography.
Tribute to victims
Nottinghamshire Police said Woodhouse was arrested in October 2020 after a woman reported she was raped by him more than once in 2019.
The force said the victim also reported he had become "fixated with an older woman" who he bombarded with thousands of sickening sexual messages over several years.
When the older woman ignored him, he superimposed her face onto images of nude women and threatened to share them online and on lampposts in her neighbourhood.
Detectives uncovered a second rape victim during an investigation into Woodhouse and another victim who reported she had been subjected to controlling and coercive behaviour by him between 2020 and 2021.
The trial heard Woodhouse also groomed a young girl before sexually abusing her and promising her treats if she complied with his sexual requests.
The force said detectives found extreme pornography, including bestiality videos, on his phone after seizing it.
Following his sentencing on Friday, Det Con Stacey Lamb, paid tribute to Woodhouses victims.
She said: “The evidence they provided was absolutely crucial to the success of the prosecution and I would like to pay tribute to their extraordinary courage and bravery throughout the investigation.
“Their courage has prevented others being subjected to further harm, and although his actions will always remain with them, I do hope that this sentence can bring them a sense of closure."
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