UK's 'worst-known sex offender' jailed for life for raping, filming men

—Trigger warning: This story details trauma and accounts of sexual assaults

LONDON: A court in the United Kingdom on Monday sentenced "an evil sexual predator" doctorate student from Indonesia to life in jail over a list of sexual offences, including rape and filming of assault.

Described as Britain's most prolific rapist, Reynhard Sinaga attacked unsuspecting men after drugging them. He was said to have attacked as many as 195 men, luring them into his flat by offering a place to stay or alcohol.

Sinaga, 36, is thought to have sedated his victims before filming the attacks as most knew nothing about the assaults. However, he was apprehended only when one victim woke up during rape.

Sinaga from Indonesia's Jambi province, was "an evil sexual predator" who preyed on drunken young men on nights out, Judge Suzanne Goddard of the Manchester Crown Court in northwest England said.

"One of your victims described you as a monster," Goddard said, recommending he serve at least 30 years behind bars. "The scale and enormity of your offending confirms this as an accurate description."

According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Sinaga was convicted of 159 offences — including 136 rapes and eight attempted rapes — at four separate trials. The first trial began in June 2018. The last ended last December.

However, none was reported due to restrictions — lifted on Monday —imposed to avoid prejudicing juries.

The CPS said Sinaga was suspected of attacking "scores" more men since he moved to the UK in 2007, calling him "the worst-known sex offender in the country's history".

The deputy chief crown prosecutor for northwest England, Ian Rushton, said: "Reynhard Sinaga is the most prolific rapist in British legal history."

'Twisted pleasure from re-watching his films'

"His extreme sense of sexual entitlement almost defies belief and he would no doubt still be adding to his staggering tally had he not been caught.

"Sinaga's unthreatening demeanour duped these young men — many of whom thanked him for his kindness in offering them a place to stay — into thinking this monster was a Good Samaritan.

"But once back at his flat, he used victims as objects purely for his own gratification — then appears to have derived further twisted pleasure from re-watching his films in court and putting victims through the trauma of giving evidence."

The slightly-built Sinaga had claimed his mainly heterosexual victims were acting out his sexual fantasy to play dead during the abuse. But four trial juries rejected his defence and a character testimony from a local church he had attended in Manchester.

He was arrested in 2017 after the victim who woke up managed to snatch his mobile phone and took it to police.

The CPS said detectives discovered 3.29 terabytes of graphic material of the sexual assaults — equivalent to 250 DVDs or 300,000 photos. One of the assaults lasted for eight hours.