JAIL TERM WARNING FOR SEX ATTACKER
A RAPIST who forced himself upon a drunk teenager at his Weymouth flat has been warned he faces a ‘significant period of imprisonment’.Richard Peter Sturmey, aged 20, was convicted following a trial at Dorchester Crown Court on a charge of raping a 16-year-old girl on the night of June 15 last year.
He was cleared on four other charges relating to the girl, including a second charge of rape, and the jury also delivered a not guilty verdict in relation to a separate allegation of rape made by a 15-year-old girl.
The jury heard how the 16-year-old girl had been drinking at Sturmey’s flat in Carlton Road North and was sick due to the amount of alcohol she had drunk before going to sleep in the defendant’s bed.
She said that during the night she woke to find Sturmey forcing himself upon her.
The girl told the jury: “I didn’t know what was going on and by the time I knew what was going on it was too late.” The victim also claimed she had been left feeling ‘dirty’ after the ordeal and frightened that it would happen again.
Sturmey claimed there had been sexual contact between the pair that evening but it had been consensual.
The jury acquitted him on two counts of assault by penetration, one charge of attempted rape and another charge of rape relating to further allegations made by the girl about his behaviour that night.
He was also found not guilty in relation to claims made by the 15-year-old girl, who told jurors she had stayed over at Sturmey’s flat on August 23, 2009, and he had raped her.
Sturmey maintained that he had not had any sexual contact at all with the girl.
Following the jury’s verdicts, Sturmey was automatically placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.
The jury also heard that Sturmey had admitted three charges of having sex with a girl under the age of 16, which related to a third teenager.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Judge Roger Jarvis warned the defendant: “You face a significant period of imprisonment.
I want to know more about you before I decide on the length and therefore I am going to require a pre-sentence report to be prepared.” Sturmey was remanded in custody and will return to court to be sentenced on May 20.
