March 3rd 2016
Multiple rapist Jason Lawrance has been sentenced to life in jail after being found guilty of raping five women who he had met on dating site Match.com.
Convicted at Derby Crown Court, the 50 year-old father of three from Liphook, Hampshire, will serve a minimum sentence of twelve and a half years before being considered for parole. Lawrance selected his victims using the profile names ‘KeepItStraightToday’ and ‘StraightMan-Looking’.
Judge Greg Dickinson QC, presiding, told Lawrance he had shown “no remorse”, describing him as "devious, manipulative and dangerous to women”.
He said: "After these terrible crimes you acted as if nothing had happened. You have shown no remorse – zero appreciation of the seriousness of these offences – for the pain you have inflicted on these ladies, their families and their friends. Your aim was to get (the victims) into a compromising situation and then to do whatever you liked to them – anticipating that they would be too frightened or embarrassed to make a complaint, or that they would not be believed if they did come forward.”
Judge Dickinson added: “There is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned by the commission by you of further offences. That phrase is taken from an Act of Parliament. In plain English – you are a danger to women. Given the chance, you will rape again. I do not know when it may be safe to release you into the community.” He concluded: “A sentence of life imprisonment means that you will not be released unless and until the Parole Board considers that it is safe to do so.”
Lawrance, a self-employed builder, carried out the between June 2011 and November 2014, including three assaults within months of marrying a woman he met through Match.com. He was further found guilty of sexually assaulting and the attempted rape of two other victims he had met online.
The Court heard that four of the victims had complained to the dating site about Lawrance. One of the women was told that administrators could not do anything because he had not sent abusive messages that would violate its terms of service.
One woman was raped in the back of a van which he had parked in a Northamptonshire field, and another was attacked at her home while her son was sleeping in a bedroom. His arrest came after a friend of a Derbyshire victim in November 2014 reported the crime to the police.
A Match.com spokesman said the company had the "most heartfelt concern" for the victims and it had a "zero tolerance policy" for reports of serious offences.
The firm said it had been unable to initially remove Lawrance's profile because the abusive messages had been sent outside their website.
Their statement said members were encouraged to communicate within the site where they have the technology to "spot unacceptable behaviour".
