A “PREDATOR” Sex Education star has been jailed after raping and sexually abusing young girls he preyed on in acting classes.
Alexander Westwood, who starred in 17 episodes of the hit Netflix show, started his depraved crimes aged just ten.
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The 24-year-old hid behind his acting credentials to target young girls – including one over an eight-year period.
Westwood made his victims recite Shakespeare naked in acting class and got them take part in nude role play scenes.
When the girls complained, he would tell them: “It’s just part of acting.”
Westwood has now been jailed for 15-and-a-half years after being convicted of 26 offences – including raping a schoolgirl and sexual assault.
He could have been charged with 77 serious sexual assaults but for ease of sentencing his indictment was reduced to 26 counts.
Sentencing, Judge Neil Chawla said the “campaign of sexual offending” had “devastating consequences for the five victims”.
The judge added that Westwood displayed a “seemingly nonchalant attitude” that bordered on “arrogance” during the trial.
Wolverhampton Crown Court was told the actor is a “supreme manipulator” whose repeated sexual offending was “a lifestyle”.
Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said: “As fame beckons, he met two impressionable 16-year-olds and used his revered position to abuse them.”
Between November 2020 and September 2021, Westwood raped and sexually assaulted one teen girl who came to him for acting help.
The predator would discuss sex scenes from films and TV shows with the victim before attacking her.
If she challenged him, Westwood, who also appeared in BBC show Doctors, would tell her: “Do what your teacher says.”
When the girl tried to quit his classes, he introduced a contract, which was used as a “coercive tool to keep her line”.
The document tied her in to 365 lessons and claimed she would owe him as much as £36,000 if she broke it.
Westwood also abused a second girl between May and August 2021.
He left her feeling “disgusted” after forcing her to undress to act out a scene from a Greek mythology.
Another victim was pinned down and sexually assaulted by the fiend, while one was forced to watch porn then abused.
Other instances of abuse included forcing a young girl to drink his urine and inciting a young boy into sexual activity.
Mr Wallace said: “If we were to list every instance there would be hundreds of charges.”
In harrowing victim impact statements, the girls bravely faced Westwood as they told how his abuse affected them.
One who was assaulted by the fiend 36 times said: “I have a reoccurring nightmare Alexander Westwood is standing above me.
“I wake up every time. I am scared on public transport in case I see him. I have anxiety at work because he knows where it is.
“As a child I was violated my life. I self harmed because I hated myself.
“Instead of taking it out on someone else I took it out on myself.”
Another victim cried as she told how she is “untrusting” in relationships as a result of the abuse she suffered.
She added: “Alexander is a very manipulative person and has no remorse on his part. I feel like he has ruined my life.”
While one girl who was raped by Westwood during an acting class added: “I hate taking a shower, I hate having to touch my body to wash.
“No matter how long I wash, I still feel dirty. As soon as I get in, I want to get out.
“I despise everything to do with acting when it was all I wanted to do. I started to despise men.
“During secondary school when the abuse was happening I could not see a point of living.”
Talking through the tears, she added: “I have hated myself and hate everything. Because of him.”
According to his IMDb profile, Westwood was an “unaccredited student” in Sex Education.
He has also had roles in film Outlawed and Father Brown and presented a children’s TV show called Sensations.
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