Rapist attacked again after rehabilitation was delayed

A “PREDATORY sex offender” who was spared jail after blackmailing a girl he met online went on to rape a woman after his rehabilitation course was delayed due to “financial constraints,” a court has heard.

Rhys Miller-offiong, 24, used fake profiles he created on sites such as Facebook and Plenty of Fish to lure women into sending him explicit pictures before meeting them.

He pleaded guilty last May to causing a girl under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity, and received a suspended four-month sentence.

Miller-offiong was told to complete a sexual offending behaviour programme but was not immediately offered a place due to “financial constraints” and only ever attended one session, Woolwich Crown Court in London was told.

Three months later, he raped a woman he had tricked into sending sexually explicit pictures and videos.

Miller-offiong was yesterday sentenced to 15 years in prison with a fouryear licence period. He admitted blackmail, rape, four charges of distributing indecent images of a child, three of disclosing a private sexual photograph with intent to cause distress, and one charge of committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

He is black, but posed as a white man during his blackmail campaign. A police investigation launched after he committed rape found that at least two other young women had been tricked into sending him images and videos or blackmailed into performing sex acts.

Detectives eventually linked Milleroffiong to the crimes by studying his digital footprint. Andrew Hudson, prosecuting, said women were “scared and pressurised” into complying with his demands for money and sexual acts.

Detective Constable Paul Harakis, of the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: “Miller-offiong is a predatory sex offender who has drawn unsuspecting girls into his sexual trap.”