Serial rapist George De Bathe jailed 22 years for abusing five women in West Sussex
George De Bathe, 25, from Chichester, was sentenced to 22 years for rape, coercive control and threats to kill five women. A judge called him "callous, cold and calculating".
Chichester man jailed 22 years for raping and controlling five women
Google News UK — Crime (en) reports that a serial rapist who strangled and threatened to kill five women — then blamed their injuries on consensual rough sex — has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Portsmouth Crown Court heard on Friday how George De Bathe, 25, from Chichester in West Sussex, abused and controlled his victims between 2015 and 2019, continuing to offend even after being arrested and placed under a restraining order.
De Bathe was found guilty in April on 24 counts including rape, actual bodily harm, sexual assault, coercive control, making a threat to kill, and false imprisonment. He shrugged and smiled as he was led from the dock.
Judge William Ashworth described him as "callous, cold and calculating", adding: "You are a dangerous offender who has shown little or no remorse."
The court heard that De Bathe, who worked as a salesman, used blackmail and intimidation to abuse the five women physically, sexually and emotionally. He controlled every aspect of their lives — how to dress, what to eat, where to go and who they were permitted to speak to.
One young woman was strangled after taking a pregnancy test following a rape. De Bathe had also held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.
"You enjoyed inflicting pain and humiliation and you moved without significant pause from victim to victim," Judge Ashworth told him.
The judge revealed that De Bathe had bragged to his father about putting women in their place, while his mother told police: "George admits he gets angry when he doesn't get his needs met." Despite growing concern about his behaviour, the judge said, his family did nothing to intervene. "No one in that household chose to stop you," Ashworth said.
The court was told De Bathe's offending began while he was still at school. He would pressure victims into taking nude or topless photographs of themselves, which he then used as leverage. Some of those women were under age at the time.
Victims spoke of the lasting harm caused. One woman said: "I was so broken from what he had done to me, I didn't know who I was." Another described being "completely indoctrinated" and "riddled with fear", adding: "He is a narcissistic and dangerously manipulative man. Had I not reported him to the police, I'm sure he would have murdered me."
De Bathe was first arrested in March 2019, then again in April and November of that year.
Detective Constable Jon Petroulas, of Sussex Police, said De Bathe had "shown a clear pattern of manipulating women, before revealing his violent, controlling and sexually abusive tendencies". "Each of these women's lives was made a misery by De Bathe, and they must live with the trauma of his crimes," Petroulas added.
Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)