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Match.com user Jason Lawrance guilty of rapes and assault | Match.com user Jason Lawrance guilty of rapes and assault |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A man has been found guilty of raping five women and attacking two more after meeting them on internet dating site Match.com. | A man has been found guilty of raping five women and attacking two more after meeting them on internet dating site Match.com. |
"Sexual predator" Jason Lawrance, 50, of Liphook, Hampshire, used two profiles on the website to meet the seven women from five English counties. | |
Derby Crown Court heard the attacks took place between June 2011 and November 2014. | Derby Crown Court heard the attacks took place between June 2011 and November 2014. |
Lawrance will be sentenced on Thursday. | Lawrance will be sentenced on Thursday. |
Live updates and more from Derbyshire | Live updates and more from Derbyshire |
The court was told Lawrance used his profiles keepitstraighttoday and straightmanlooking on match.com but was keen to talk to women offline. | |
He committed three sex attacks months after getting married to someone he met via the site. | He committed three sex attacks months after getting married to someone he met via the site. |
Officers began investigating Lawrance after Derbyshire Police received a call in November 2014 from a woman who claimed one of her friends was raped by him. | Officers began investigating Lawrance after Derbyshire Police received a call in November 2014 from a woman who claimed one of her friends was raped by him. |
The court heard that in June 2011, Lawrance drove a woman down a remote country lane near Crick in Northamptonshire and raped her in the back of his van. | |
Two years later in July 2013, Lawrance contacted a woman by saying "Boo! xx" 24 hours after attempting to rape her at her house in Spalding, Lincolnshire. | |
The jury was told he had consensual sex at a woman's house in Buxton, Derbyshire, in November that year, but the following day raped her despite her "screaming hysterically". | |
He then sent her a text message reading: "When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn't, I'm so mad at myself xxx" and another saying "I was disgusted with myself for hurting you. I am so sorry. I am too rough for you xxx xx". | |
Lawrance, described by police as a "sexual predator", was also convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in February 2014 by grabbing her right breast over her clothing in a car parked at a hotel near East Midlands Airport. | |
He was also found guilty of raping a woman in a hotel room in Cambridgeshire in October 2014, in which he slapped her face and bit her lip, neck and breast. | |
A month later, he raped two more women - one he had met through match.com at a hotel in Leicestershire, and another at her home following a meeting at a coffee shop in Sheffield, the court was told. | |
Det Ch Insp Allison Rigby praised the victims for their "bravery" for giving evidence. | |
She said: "Jason Lawrance is a prolific, serial rapist who preyed on women he had contacted through Match.com. | |
"These women were looking for companionship and instead what they found was a man who was willing to commit serious sexual offences against them." | |
During his defence, Lawrance claimed he had consensual sex with all of the victims. | During his defence, Lawrance claimed he had consensual sex with all of the victims. |
A Match.com spokesman said it has the "most heartfelt concern" for the victims and that "the safety of our members is our highest priority". | A Match.com spokesman said it has the "most heartfelt concern" for the victims and that "the safety of our members is our highest priority". |