A man has been jailed for a series of rapes and sexual assaults on four girls, with one victim forced to undergo an abortion following her ordeal. Jack Westlake, of California Gardens, Plymouth, faced trial at Plymouth Crown Court over a total of eight charges involving four girls, who were all aged under 16 at the time.
Westlake, now aged 21, was found guilty of all eight charges, which included multiple rapes and penetrative sexual activity with a child. Judge Matthew Turner told Westlake at a sentencing hearing today that although he was under 21 himself at the time of the offences, he noted that he targeted young and vulnerable girls, often first communicating with them on social media before then arranging to meet them in isolated locations where he raped and sexually assaulted them.
He told Westlake that his offending had left the girls impacted upon their schooling and emotionally “for years to come”.
The prolific abuser Westlake was found guilty of raping one girl aged under 16 on August 26, 2021, and a further sexual assault by penetration on the same girl on the same day.
He was found guilty of a further six charges for rapes and assaults by penetration on girls under the age of 16 over a three-year period, with one attack happening in a play park in Plymouth.
Judge Turner highlighted that when Westlake was 17, he raped a 14-year-old girl, which resulted in her falling pregnant.
The jury had heard that, as a result, the girl had to seek a termination.
The court heard in her victim impact statement how she had lost the trust of her family, she felt it difficult to trust others, had struggled with eating and her behaviour deteriorated at school.
Judge Turner said the impact of having a termination at such a young age was “considerable”.
He noted that Westlake’s offending had breached a two-year Sexual Risk Order he was made subject to in November 2023 by the Magistrates’ court, which prevented him from contacting or communicating with any female under the age of 16 and demanded he alert his supervisor to any new mobile phone he took possession of.
Judge Turner said that each girl was particularly vulnerable due to their youth.
He stated that he had noted a pre-sentence and psychiatric report on Westlake, with the significant mitigating factor being his own age at the time of the offences, aged 16 and 17, and that he had no previous convictions.
He noted Westlake had had an “unstable” upbringing, had been put into foster care at 14, had no meaningful relationship with his father, had an unstable education and had to be sent to a school for children with behavioural issues.
Judge Turner said that while he did consider that Westlake was dangerous under the provisions of the Sentencing Act, in that he did pose a significant risk to members of the public of causing serious harm by the commission of further specified offences, he felt that it did not require an extended sentence, but would be handed a “lengthy determinate sentence”.
He said he considered this due to the way Westlake had befriended each of the girls on social media, how he had sought out girls who were younger than him, pressurised them and lured them to isolated locations where he sexually assaulted them, ignored their pleas for him to stop and engineered a “degree of control” over them.
Judge Turner also noted how Westlake had even carried out some of the offences even while on police and court bail, and while he was subject to a court order aimed at preventing his sexual offending.
Taking into account all the aggravating and mitigating factors, Judge Turner handed Westlake a total sentence of nine years.
He said Westlake would remain on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and must pay a victim surcharge of £190.
Following the sentencing, a Devon and Cornwall Police described 21-year-old Westlake as “a dangerous offender”.
The spokesperson said: “It is hoped that today’s sentence will allow the victims of Jack Westlake some amount of closure following the ordeals which they have had to endure.
“Westlake is a dangerous offender who carefully targeted his victims on social media and arranged to meet them. Westlake isolated them in order to carry out his attacks which, as is reflected in convictions against him, were numerous and serious in nature.
“The investigation involved a number of different investigating officers and staff, as well as specialist support and liaison officers. It is a prime example of how our officers and staff work closely together in order to place these matters before the courts and achieve justice for the victims that intrust us with their reports.
