A man from Bexhill has been handed a 15-year sentence for befriending a girl in the street, drugging her in his flat and sexually assaulting her.
Glenn Trevor Williams, 62, unemployed, of St Marks Close, Little Common, Bexhill, was convicted at Hove Crown Court of raping the 17-year-old girl, sexually assaulting her, and taking an indecent image of her, all at his flat.
Last Thursday (March 3) he was sentenced to 15 years - 10 of which will be spent in prison, while the other five on extended prison licence supervision.
He will be a registered sex offender for life and was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children, to last indefinitely.
He had been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old man.
Williams had been in Warrior Square, St Leonards, in July 2018, when he came across the girl and her then boy friend, who appeared to be in some distress. Taking advantage of their vulnerability he invited them back to his flat on the pretext of helping them find accommodation and work.
But once there he plied them with drink and assaulted the girl when she tried to sleep. The couple reported that they felt the alcohol had been 'spiked' with some drug which quickly made them sleepy.
Detective Constable Liz Brunt of the East Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said:
"Williams has many previous convictions for theft and violence, including two for sexual offences involving children.
"He had been convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child for which he received six months' imprisonment.
"In 2018 he was convicted of inciting a female child under 16 to engage in a sexual act. For this he received a four-year custodial sentence.
"It is clear that Williams is a manipulative and opportunistic predator and the fact that he is now behind bars is in no small part due to the evidence the couple gave against him."
For information on how to report sexual offences and the support that is available, see the Sussex Police website.
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