A “depraved” sexual predator who assaulted a woman and clandestinely recorded others at his Peterborough residence has been sentenced to prison.
Craig France, 33, preyed upon young women in nightclubs, intoxicating them with booze before transporting them to his residence, where he had installed concealed cameras.
Craig France documented himself doing sexual actions on several of his victims while they were incapacitated or asleep.
He was apprehended in September of the previous year and initially refuted the allegations; however, he subsequently entered a guilty plea to charges of rape, sexual assault, three counts of voyeurism, and exposure during a hearing last month.
During the inquiry, law enforcement found four victims; nevertheless, it is suspected that other victims may exist.
Craig France’s offending came to light in August last year after a woman reported he had raped her two years previous, and she was now aware he had filmed it.
The victim had been given a shot of “Sambuca” by France while they were in his garden and the next thing she knew, she woke up in his bed with no recollection of what had happened, but knew something untoward had taken place.
Officers trawled through more than 6,000 disturbing images and videos of several unidentified women, who were secretly filmed at his home between March 2022 and September 2023.
They also found the video which showed the victim being raped by Craig France, while she appeared to be “lifeless”.
It showed Craig France carrying the victim, who was unable to stand, before dropping her in a hot tub and then dragging her on a concrete floor.
A further three victims were identified from the videos and images, who were distraught to learn they had unknowingly been filmed, with one saying she felt Craig France had “taken her dignity” and another saying she felt “disgusted”.
On one occasion, Craig France can be seen sexually assaulting a victim as she lay asleep on his sofa and, on another, he filmed an unsuspecting woman’s body in a sexual manner, close-up.
Officers also found a clip where Craig France was seen naked in daylight at a roadside in the Broxbourne area of Hertfordshire.
Today (Monday, 31 March), at Cambridge Crown Court, France, of Hammonds Drive, Fengate, Peterborough, was sentenced to 10 years and seven months years in prison. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Sentencing, Judge Mr Justice Mark Bishop said: “The nature of those offences show you were predatory towards those women and, when they were incapacitated, you filmed them. Your comments showed no understanding of consent and you are on a journey of further understand of consent. You are misogynistic about women which is deeply unattractive and concerning.
“You accept you became obsessed with recording social activities, that developed into recording your sexual activities. You have an attraction to risky behaviour and I judge that in this case a sense of sexual entitlement, coupled with taking risks and poor self-esteem, is a toxic risk.
“You have not offended since being in a new relationship. That demonstrates the risk that is posed when an relationship ends. This is extraordinary behaviour to engage at the age of 33. You are a risk to society.”
DC Em Scates, who investigated, said: “It’s clear Craig France is a depraved and calculating sexual predator and a danger to women. It is one of the worst cases I have dealt with in 23 years of being a police officer.
“The bravery of the survivors of these horrendous crimes has been exceptional. They had been violated in one of the worst possible ways, yet they remained supportive and strong throughout the investigation.”
DCI Helen Tebbit said that due to the amount of footage and the nature of France’s offending, it was possible there were further victims yet to be identified.
“I would encourage anyone who thinks they might’ve been a victim of a sexual offence to contact us on 101 or via web chat on the force website. We take all reports of sexual offences very seriously.
“We have a dedicated team of specially trained officers ready to investigate allegations promptly, fully and professionally, and a network of partnership agencies and support services to offer assistance and support.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.