Man jailed for raping sex worker and filming attacks

William Adesanya has been sentenced to 16 years with an extended six-year licence period after being found guilty of raping a sex worker three times in her Cardiff home.

The 25-year-old from Penarth strangled the victim until she lost consciousness during the 30-minute ordeal, and filmed himself raping her in order to “humiliate and degrade” her.

Newport Crown Court heard the attack began when Adesanya placed the victim in a “bear hug” and whispered: “Don’t panic, you just need to give me £200.”

When she said she didn’t have the money and tried to photograph him, he grabbed her phone and deleted their messages. As she screamed, he strangled her, telling her: “If you didn’t struggle, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Judge Carl Harrison said the victim struggled to breathe and “everything went blank”. When she regained consciousness, her clothes had been pulled down and Adesanya was “moving her body”.

He raped her three times, filming the attacks whilst she could be heard crying and pleading with him to stop. The court heard he “could not care less” and left her on the floor “with no regard for her or her safety”.

Reading her victim personal statement to the court, the woman said: “My anxiety is extremely high and I am nervous about being out in public. The first time I had to take the bins out, I threw up because of the anxiety… Even just being in work and thinking he will walk past me makes me not want to leave the house. I struggle to sleep every night and feel paralysed. I have panic attacks and can’t move, I am stuck.”

She added: “They say it takes seven years for skin to regenerate and create new cells. I am counting down for seven years so my skin is not the same skin he touched…. He has broken every ounce of confidence, self love, and mental progress. I hate my body, I hate how I look and when I touch myself. I was excited for my future but now I feel broken and with no purpose.”

She continued: “Every day I want to rip off my skin. I don’t want skin that has been touched or violated by him. My confidence, safety, sanity and self worth has been ripped away from me. I have changed, I am not the same person I was that night…. I am constantly in a state of mental warfare…. In my eyes, my body is stained with dirty handprints and no amount of scrubbing will set me free of him… I am broken because of what you did but I’ll heal eventually and will be able to put myself together again. I genuinely hope you’re forced to confront how cruel, inhumane, and devastating your actions were.”

Judge Harrison told Adesanya, of Clos yr Erw, he is a “very dangerous individual” who has shown a “lack of insight and empathy”.

He was found guilty after trial of three counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of intentional strangulation. He was also made subject to a restraining order and an order prohibiting him from having contact with sex workers, both to run indefinitely.