A Grangemoor Rapist, Rhys Fowler, who assaulted a young woman attempting to assist him on a bridge in Warrington has been incarcerated.
Rhys Fowler, from Grangemoor in Runcorn, bowed his head when seated in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.
The 26-year-old, clad in a grey t-shirt and glasses, intermittently glanced at the proceedings and the public gallery.
Initiating legal proceedings, Frances Willmott informed the court that Rhys Fowler was convicted of two counts of rape during his trial in June.
In 2017, it was reported that the 17-year-old was intoxicated when he perpetrated the initial rape.
His victim expressed her unwillingness to engage in an intimate deed, to which he responded with ‘tough s**t’ and proceeded to rape her.
The court was informed that he restrained his victim while she attempted to repel him before he ceased his actions.
On October 15, 2018, Fowler threatened to commit suicide while on a bridge in Warrington.
A woman attempted to aid Rhys Fowler, who had ascended the bridge and instructed her not to contact him.
After 10 minutes, the 19-year-old ascended again and then requested that she relinquish her hoodie.
Rhys Fowler informed the young woman that she could only retrieve it if she engaged in oral sex with him, to which she declined.
The victim, also a teenager, relinquished her hoodie but was not wearing a t-shirt, leaving her half-naked on the bridge before he subsequently raped her.
In 2023, Rhys Fowler was apprehended for disseminating an indecent image of a minor and possessing more indecent images and extreme pornography on his mobile device.
This comprised one category A video, 18 category C images and one movie, three extreme pornographic images, and evidence of 17 forbidden images.
These photographs featured children aged five to fifteen years.
Certain photographs were inaccessible to law enforcement during the inquiry, as Rhys Fowler had been attempting to delete them and erase his phone soon prior to his arrest.
Rhys Fowler admitted guilt to the distribution, creation, and possession of indecent photographs of children, but refuted the two charges of rape.
During his trial, Rhys Fowler persistently refuted the allegations but was nevertheless convicted by a jury.
On Friday, the 26-year-old reappeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing.
Bravely, an impact statement was read to the court by a victim.
“For a long time, I was angry at myself and felt like I’d let myself down,” she told the court.
“I felt who I had been was stolen from me. I constantly felt dirty and unclean.
“It’s been hard to build a life as normal girls my age have done. I now, as a woman, feel as if that has been taken from me.
“It happened to me, it will never go away.”
Judge Gary Woodhall addressed the ‘degradation’ experienced by Rhys Fowler’s victim on the bridge in Warrington, noting that the victim of the initial rape ‘did not have time to react.’
Judge Woodhall also observed that Rhys Fowler was considered ‘immature’ at the age of 26, suggesting he was likely considerably more immature when he perpetrated the acts.
Fowler averted his gaze to the floor while standing in the dock, receiving a sentence of six years and five months of immediate incarceration.
The 26-year-old is required to comply with a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely and must register as a sex offender for life.
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