LONDON (AP) — A man described as “the most prolific rapist in British legal history” has been sentenced to life in prison with a possible release after 30 years following his conviction for sexual offenses against 48 men.
Authorities said the evidence against 36-year-old Reynhard Sinaga indicates he had many more victims, with roughly 195 men apparently having been filmed while being abused when they were in his apartment. Many were unconscious at the time.
Judge Suzanne Goddard said in Manchester Crown Court the true number of Sinaga's victims may never be known.
“You are an evil serial sexual predator who has preyed upon young men who came into the city center wanting nothing more than a good night out with their friends," she said. “One of your victims described you as a monster. The scale and enormity of your offending confirms this as an accurate description."
She said the courts had rarely if ever seen such a prolonged “campaign of rape." Reporting restrictions that had prevented the publication of Sinaga's name were lifted Monday.
Prosecutors say Sinaga had a non-threatening manner. He befriended young men, including many who were intoxicated after a night out, and offered them a place to stay at his apartment. He filmed many of the forced sexual encounters.
Prosecutor Ian Rushton said many victims initially thanked Sinaga for offering them accommodation.
“But once back at his flat, he used victims as objects purely for his own gratification," Rushton said.
Sinaga arrived in Britain from his native Indonesia on a student visa in 2007. He received two degrees in sociology and planning from the University of Manchester and was studying for his PhD at the University of Leeds when he was suspended following his arrest in 2017.
His thesis was called: “Sexuality and everyday transnationalism. South Asian gay and bisexual men in Manchester."
His Manchester church offered a statement in support of his character that did not seem to sway the judge.
“It is almost beyond belief that someone who could profess some Christian faith could at the same time have been committing such wicked and evil crimes," she said.
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The make-or-break holiday shopping season was off to a strong start as of Black Friday, according to early online data and interviews with several analysts and early online statistics. On Thanksgiving day alone, consumers nationwide spent $1.75 billion online ー a striking increase of nearly 30 percent over last year, according to data from Adobe Analytics. The latest numbers are an indication that what was once a day-long Black Friday event, that then extended into a long weekend capped by Cyber Monday, has morphed into something altogether different.
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Amazon's decision to bring an HQ2 to Queens, N.Y., was met by considerable backlash. According to the director of the city's Riders Alliance, the frustration is largely about the subway's reliability ー or lack thereof. "We have enough space on our trains, but they're not reliable," Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director of the Riders Alliance, told Cheddar Wednesday.
Airports nationwide are gearing up for one of the busiest holiday travel weekends on record. But thrifty procrastinators take heart: there may still be some workarounds to help save money on holiday travel this year.
Condé Nast's shift to digital continued this week with an announcement that Glamour, the 80-year-old women's fashion magazine, would cease monthly print publication after its January 2019 issue. It follows similar moves by Teen Vogue and Self, other female-focused brands in the Condé stable. The vaunted magazine publisher lost $120 million last year amid a consolidation of its print properties.
The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line has been answering the questions of stressed-out Thanksgiving hosts for decades, but this year it is turning to Amazon Alexa to modernize how it helps with turkey prep.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018.
Home-builders were largely spared from the broader market sell-off early this week, but a mix of high home prices, rising mortgage rates, and low home-builder confidence are threatening the future of the housing market.
Gwenyth Paltrow's Goop brand is out with its annual holiday gift guide, with such practical ideas as 24 karat gold rolling papers and an entire Spanish village.
