'Monstrous' rapist jailed for life after preying on drunken men in Manchester
The UK’s most prolific rapist has been jailed for life, with a minimum of 30-years, after targeting young, drunken men in Manchester.
Reynhard Sinaga, 36, began targeting men in 2015 and filmed himself attacking them whilst they were passed out at his flat, he continued to rape and sexually abuse his victims until he was caught in 2017.
To date, he’s been convicted of 159 offences including 136 counts of rape as well as the attempted rape and sexual assault of 48 men, most of whom are heterosexual, although police believe the number could be as high as 195.
Many of his victims were students aged 18 or 19 who were in the city partying with friends, they would have no idea of what had happened to them until years later.
Sinaga is originally from Indonesia but has been in the UK on a student visa since 2007.
He would leave his flat on Princess Street and head to the nearby pubs and clubs in the early hours of the morning looking for a young man who was drunk and separated from his friends.
The court heard how he would play the “Good Samaritan,” offer a helping hand and take them home, in one case he was out of his flat for just 60 seconds before he was back with a victim.
A number of the victims told Manchester Crown Court they’d been offered a drink, the prosecution claimed it would be laced with drugs to render them unconscious.
They’d wake the next morning with little or no memory of the night before other than what they thought were the effects of a terrible hangover.
The men were completely unaware Sinaga had filmed himself sexually assaulting them whilst they were unconscious.
The jury were played hours of videos showing the abuse, some men can be heard snoring on the tapes.
Sinagra’s victims reported thinking he was ‘a nice guy,’ ‘softly spoken’ and ‘unintimidating,’ he’d offered to let them charge their phone or contact friends.
He was finally caught when one man woke up mid-attack and fought him off before contacting the police.
Police originally arrested SInaga’s victim before uncovering his phone which revealed the recordings.
Ian Rushton Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, North West said: "The world needs to know just what a prolific and predatory individual Sinaga is.
"He’s a monster and a mystery he’s not given us any clue as to his motivation.
"The total amount (of evidence) I’m told would fill 330 DVD’s so a painstaking job going through all those dreadful recordings and picking out each of the individual offences."
Sinaga’s defence Richard Littler QC claimed the men were willing participants in the defendant’s sex game and were ‘pretending to be asleep’.
When Sinaga was cross-examined and asked why the men hadn’t moved or why they were snoring he replied, ‘That was the game.’
"Just because it’s weirder than 50 Shades of Grey," he told the court, "it didn’t mean people weren’t willing to do it."
48 men came forward to give evidence against Sinaga. claiming they had no idea they were being abused whilst unconscious.
All denied the sex was consensual, one man told the court: "I will never forget the day the Police came to see me, I did not know why they needed to see me but I can say I was absolutely devastated to hear that I had been a victim of rape, after being drugged and this sexual act was filmed by a man, I now know to be Sinaga."
Another said: "I felt numb; I was totally shocked, embarrassed, betrayed and very angry.
"His actions were disgusting, unforgivable, he has massively abused my trust in humanity."
It would take 4 separate trials to convict SInaga of all of his crimes, they were separated out due to the huge amount of evidence and the number of victims.
All four were presided over by Judge Goddard QC with the defence and prosecution teams also remaining the same throughout.
The findings of those trials were only made reportable at the sentencing due to legal restrictions.
The jury in each case were offered psychological support after being shown the harrowing videos of the sex attacks.
More than 40 men have been supported by St Mary’s Sexual Assault and Referral Centre who have built individual care plans for each of them.
Several of the men have tried to take their own lives as a result of the trial.
Police say they haven’t managed to identify all of the men from the recordings and believe many of Sinaga’s victims still don’t know what’s happened to them.
They’re now appealing for any other men who may remember meeting Sinaga over the past few years to come forward.
Sarah Rogers has been following the story:
Staff at St Mary’s say the men will be supported in whatever way they need if they choose to speak out.Councillor Nigel Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "We pay tribute to the courage of those who have testified in these cases and the painstaking work of Greater Manchester Police in bringing this monster to justice.
He added: "While it's deeply shocking that these crimes happened in our city, their long shadow should not distort perceptions of Manchester.
"Tens of thousands of people safely enjoy the city's famous nightlife every week.
"These were the actions of one depraved predator acting in isolation - they do not reflect or represent any gender, race, religion, sexuality or community."
If you wish to contact Police about Mr Sinaga you can call:
0800 092 0410 (calls made from within the UK)
0207158 0124 (international calls)0207158 0011 (international calls)
If you have been affected by this story and would like to seek help from specialist agencies you can call:
0800 056 0154 (calls made from within the UK)
0207158 0011 (international calls)