A young man has been jailed for a string of rapes and sexual assaults on four underage girls, leading to one victim having to undergo an abortion.
Jack Westlake, from California Gardens in Plymouth, stood trial at Plymouth Crown Court facing eight charges involving four girls, all under 16 at the time.
Now 21, Westlake was accused of the rape of one girl under 16 on August 26, 2021, and further sexually assaulting her on the same day. He was also charged with the rape of another girl under 16 on August 26, 2022.
Additionally, he faced two counts of assault by penetration on a different girl under 16 on January 26, 2021, at a play park in Plymouth, reports Plymouth Live.
Westlake was slapped with four more charges of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child, another girl under 16.
One incident reportedly took place between August 1, 2021, and October 1, 2021. Another occurred between November 1, 2021, and November 18, 2021, with a third incident on November 18, 2021, and again on the same day. All four incidents unfolded in the Devonport area.
After the trial at Plymouth Crown Court, the jury delivered guilty verdicts on all eight charges.
Judge Matthew Turner addressed Westlake at today's sentencing hearing, acknowledging that whilst he was under 21 during the time of his crimes, he deliberately preyed upon young and vulnerable girls, typically making initial contact through social media before luring them to secluded spots where he carried out rapes and sexual assaults.
The judge informed Westlake that his criminal behaviour had devastated the girls' education and would leave them emotionally scarred "for years to come".
Judge Turner emphasised that when Westlake was 17, he raped a 14-year-old girl, resulting in her pregnancy.
The jury was told that consequently, the girl was forced to undergo a termination.
The court was informed through her victim impact statement how she had lost her family's trust, found it challenging to trust others, battled with eating difficulties and saw her school behaviour decline.
Judge Turner described the impact of undergoing a termination at such a tender age as "considerable".
He observed that Westlake's crimes had violated a two-year Sexual Risk Order imposed upon him in November 2023 by the Magistrates' court, which barred him from contacting or communicating with any female under 16 and required him to inform his supervisor of any new mobile phone he acquired.
Judge Turner stated that each girl was especially vulnerable because of their youth. He revealed that he had reviewed a pre-sentence and psychiatric report concerning Westlake, highlighting the considerable mitigating circumstance of his youth during the crimes, being just 16 and 17 years old, alongside his clean criminal record.
He observed that Westlake had endured an "unstable" childhood, being placed in foster care at 14, lacking any meaningful bond with his father, experiencing disrupted schooling and requiring placement at a specialist institution for pupils with behavioural difficulties.
He further acknowledged that Westlake received diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 11 and ADHD, which could potentially account for his "impulsive" conduct.
Judge Turner declared that whilst he did determine Westlake to be dangerous according to the Sentencing Act provisions, representing a substantial threat to the public of inflicting serious harm through additional specified crimes, he believed this didn't warrant an extended sentence, but rather a "lengthy determinate sentence".
He explained this decision was influenced by how Westlake had cultivated friendships with each victim through social media, actively targeting younger girls, coercing and enticing them to remote locations where he sexually attacked them, disregarding their appeals for him to cease and establishing a "degree of control" over them.
Judge Turner additionally highlighted how Westlake had perpetrated some offences whilst on police and court bail, and during a period when he was bound by a court order designed to prevent his sexual offending. Considering all the aggravating and mitigating factors, Judge Turner sentenced Westlake to a total of nine years.
He stated that Westlake would be indefinitely listed on the Sex Offenders Register and must pay a victim surcharge of £190.