Teen Googled Info About Rape Conviction Before Getting Arrested For Raping Woman

A 20-year-old British man has been sentenced to prison for raping a woman last year in Portsmouth, England.

Daniel Booth, who was 18 at the time he committed the offense but is now 20, was sentenced to seven years in prison at Portsmouth Crown Court Monday, according to a Hampshire Constabulary press release.

Booth, of Beresford Road, pleaded not guilty to the rape, which took place on June 29, 2021, but was found guilty by a jury following a trial at the same court in June this year.

On the day of the incident, the unnamed victim, who is in her 20s, was separated from her friends shortly after 11 p.m. following a night out in Portsmouth, police said.

The woman woke up in the Hippodrome House Car Park in the early hours of June 30, with no memory of what happened to her, the court heard.

She was found by members of the public who helped her to contact her friends and ensured that she got home, according to police.

The woman's report led to an investigation headed by Hampshire Constabulary's specialist Operation Amberstone team. Extensive CCTV inquiries resulted in the arrest of Booth.

He was charged with one count of rape after further CCTV, forensic and mobile phone analysis.

Investigators found that prior to his arrest, Booth had been looking up rape via Google on his mobile phone, including how someone can be convicted of rape and what evidence police need to charge someone with rape. He also visited the Crown Prosecution Service website to see how it prosecutes rape.

The woman involved said in a victim impact statement read to the court that what happened to her will be a nightmare that she will forever have to live with.

During sentencing, Judge Timothy Mousley praised the victim for her bravery after Booth had put her through a trial by pleading not guilty as he "did not have the courage to admit the obvious."

"She could not have anticipated what happened to her that night and was incapable of protecting herself from you. You took complete advantage of her. You carried her to the place where you violently raped her and abandoned her, you left her in the cold and wet," the judge told Booth.

Operation Amberstone Detective Constable Nick Sandford-Smith, who led the investigation, said in a statement, "This was a truly terrible and predatory crime that has understandably had a significant impact on the woman involved."

"The courage it takes to come forward and speak to us about incidents of this nature should not be underestimated and I would like to take this opportunity to commend this young woman for the bravery she has shown," Sandford-Smith continued. "The fact that Booth is now in prison is testament to her courage in speaking out and assisting police with this investigation."

Booth will be required to serve at least two-thirds of his seven-year prison sentence in custody. He will also have to sign the sex offenders' register for life.