Western Morning News (Saturday)
Man jailed for rape and sexual assault
AMAN has been jailed for raping a woman and sexually assaulting another in Exeter. Robert Prout, 35, forced himself on both women during two separate incidents.
One of his victims repeatedly told him to stop while the second was stripped of her clothing and assaulted while asleep.
He was found guilty at the end of a trial and returned to Exeter Crown Court on Thursday to be sentenced.
The judge said: “The jury convicted you in relation to evidence that so far as I am concerned, having heard the trial, was overwhelming.
“The two offences you committed are remarkably serious offences.
“You haven’t shown any remorse and you’ve inflicted great damage on both of your victims.”
It emerged at sentencing that Prout was a registered sex offender, having been jailed in 2013 for sexual offences against a 14-year-old girl.
Judge Rose sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Prout denied the charges and stood trial at Exeter Crown Court last week.
The jury was told the rape dated back to 2017. Prout met the woman in a pub in Exeter. The pair, who had been drinking, later relaxed in the same bed watching TV and began kissing. She stopped and told Prout it was a ‘really bad idea’. But Prout took off her pyjamas and raped her. She repeatedly told him to stop but he ignored her.
Once her ordeal was over the woman recorded a conversation in which he ‘grovelled’ in apology and threatened to jump off a bridge.
In the recording Prout could be heard pleading with the woman and saying how sorry he was.
The woman was distressed and repeatedly asked Prout why he had assaulted her. He could be heard saying: “I don’t understand it either. I’m half tempted to jump off the bridge now. I’m truly sorry.”
The next morning the woman told a female friend what had happened and reported the incident to police. By the time of his arrest Prout had changed his mind and he claimed the sexual encounter was consensual. He told the trial he only apologised because she was embarrassed.
The second incident happened in May 2018. Prout had been drinking with a group of people on Exeter Quay. His victim invited him back to her house with friends and the group listened to music and smoked. Prout got angry at being told to sleep on the sofa. His victim could remember chatting to him in her room before falling asleep. When she woke she was horrified to find him on top of her.
Her friend came into the room and she regained her senses, having been woken by her shouting. She was naked with Prout on the bed and it was claimed he had stripped her. The police were called and Prout arrested at the scene.
He said he could not remember whether anything sexual happened.
Scientific evidence and the position he was in when the woman woke up were clear evidence of his guilt, said the prosecution.
The defendant, of Hawthorn Road, pleaded not guilty to rape on the first woman and assault by penetration on the second. On Tuesday this week the jury returned guilty verdicts on both. Ms Virginia Cornwall, defending, said Prout was socially awkward. “He’s vulnerable, lacking in self confidence and has low self-esteem,” she said.
The court was told Prout’s conviction in 2013 involved an illegal sexual relationship he formed with a 14 year-old girl when he was 23. He was subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order at the time of the later offences.
Judge Rose read a victim personal statement by the rape victim in which she said her life had been profoundly affected by her ordeal. Prout was told he would serve two thirds of his sentence in jail and the rest on licence.
Detective Sergeant Guy Biggar, of Exeter CID, said following the sentencing hearing: “Prout is a dangerous man who targeted and sexually assaulted his victims after they had trusted him and invited him into their homes. He waited for them to let down their guard and then took full advantage of them for his own gratification, paying no regard at all to their feelings.”