Serial rapist jailed after targeting women online

A man who stalked, sexually assaulted and raped a number of women across Scotland has been jailed for more than 12 years.

Steffan Cox, 25, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday after being found guilty of 21 sexual offences.

A jury heard he repeatedly targeted young women he met on social media and dating apps between 2016 and 2022.

The judge told Cox he appeared to have "an obsession with rape".

Cox's offending included making anonymous calls threatening to rape his victims.

He told one woman he wanted her child to hear her screams.

Lord Young said: "It is not difficult to imagine how terrifying those calls would have been."

He added that he had read victim impact statements from two of the women who had been targeted by Cox.

The judge said: "What emerges is the amount of harm you have caused and it is reasonable to infer the other victims would have been likewise.

"Many were identified by you through their Instagram accounts and by reference to what they were wearing in their photographs."

Extreme pornography

He carried out the sex offences in Paisley, Renfrewshire, as well as in Argyll and Bute and the Inner Hebrides.

One victim he targeted was only 15 years old at the time.

Cox - who has a previous conviction for a sex offence - pled guilty to indecent communication offences in February.

He was also found guilty of having extreme pornography - featuring images of rape and strangulation - as well as sending a film of him being intimate with a women to others.

Lord Young said he had decided calling for a full risk assessment to be compiled on Cox, which could have lead to an Order for Lifelong Restriction being imposed.

His jail sentence of 12 years and nine months will be followed by a further four years of extended sentence supervision.

Cox has also been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and has been banned from contacting any of the women for the next 20 years.

'Great courage'

Det Sgt Julie Nedley, of the National Rape Taskforce, said Cox was now facing the consequences of his "appalling and predatory behaviour".

She added: "The victims have shown great courage in coming forward with vital information, making sure he was held accountable for his actions, and ultimately convicted."

Det Sgt Nedley thanked the public and the force's partner agencies for assisting the inquiry and providing support for the women involved.

She said: "I hope this sentence provides a sense of closure for them and sends a clear message that all reports of sexual abuse, regardless of the passage of time, will be thoroughly investigated by Police Scotland."