
A man has been found guilty of raping five women after meeting them through a dating website match.com.
Appearing at Derby Crown Court, Jason Lawrance is believed to have contacted thousands of women online, committing three sex attacks just months after he married a separate woman he met on the site.
According to Metro UK, the 50-year old was also found guilty of attempting to rape and sexually assault two other women after chatting to them online.
Despite four of the women contacting match.com to lodge complaints against Lawrance, the site told the women that administrators could not do anything because he had not sent abusive messages through the site.
The court heard how Lawrance raped one woman in the back of a van parked in a field, attacked a second woman while her son slept in a room nearby and sent a text message to a third victim after his attack, writing:
‘When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn’t, I’m so mad at myself xxx.’
After a friend of one of the victims came forward, investigations revealed Lawrance has attacked a further six women he met through the site.
Targeting ‘vulnerable, naive, lonely women’, victims described Lawrance as a ‘Jekyl and Hyde’ character.
Lawrance denied all charges made against him – arguing that the sex was consensual in all five charges of rape, that the attempted rape was a misunderstanding and a sexual assault where he grabbed a woman’s breast was a ‘loving touch’ which she objected to, so he apologised.
The jury took 10 hours to deliberate before finding Lawrance guilty of all charges.
Sentencing Lawrence this morning, Judge Gregory Dickinson QC told him:
"I am convinced that you are devious, manipulative and highly dangerous to women.
"In my judgment these offences taken together - so many victims, the trail of terror and agony for which you are responsible - mean that the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment for life is fully justified."