The 50-year-old father of three, described as manipulative and highly dangerous to women, must serve more than 12 years.
16:19, UK,Thursday 03 March 2016
A serial rapist who attacked seven women after contacting them on a dating website has been jailed for life.
Jason Lawrance, a father of three from Hampshire, was convicted of raping five women and of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape another two victims.
He carried out the attacks between June 2011 and November 2014 after meeting the women through Match.com.
Lawrance, described in court as a "sexual predator", was ordered to serve a minimum term of 12 years and six months.
Sentencing him, Judge Gregory Dickinson QC said: "I am convinced that you are devious, manipulative and highly dangerous to women.
"In my judgement these offences taken together - so many victims, the trail of terror and agony for which you are responsible - mean that the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment for life is fully justified."
Lawrance's offending was first brought to light when a friend of one of the victims contacted police in Derbyshire in November 2014.
It emerged Lawrance had contacted thousands of women online and even carried out three attacks months after he got married to someone he had met through the website.
The 50-year-old, from Liphook, had tricked his victims into contacting him on a private email address.
Four women alerted Match.com administrators to the fact he had assaulted them but the website refused to take down his profile.
A victim was told that the website could not take any action because he had not sent abusive messages through the site.
One woman was raped in the back of his van after he parked it up in a field in Northamptonshire.
Another three were attacked in their own homes, one where the victim's son was sleeping in the next room.
A further two women were raped in hotels and another was sexually assaulted in a car park.
Lawrance texted one of his victims apologising for "hurting" them, saying: "When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn't. I'm so mad at myself."
Stressing the minimum term was only the earliest stage at which Lawrance could be considered for release, Judge Dickinson told the self-employed builder: "I am compelled to the dreadful conclusion that you enjoyed raping women.
"You have shown no remorse - zero appreciation of the seriousness of these offences - for the pain you have inflicted on these ladies, their families and their friends."
The judge added: "Given the chance, you will rape again. I do not know when it may be safe to release you into the community.
"A sentence of life imprisonment means that you will not be released unless and until the Parole Board considers that it is safe to do so."
Judge Dickinson had also raised concerns over supervision in use on dating websites and wanted to see if lessons could be learned.
Match.com, which is Britain's biggest dating website, said in a statement: "We are very sorry for those affected and appalled by these terrible acts.
"Sadly, there is a tiny minority of people who set out to harm others.
"While this is not confined to dating sites or even the internet, those who do so should be convicted and sentenced, as has happened in this case."
It went on: "Our member's safety is our highest priority.
"We are committed to working with the dating industry as a whole to raise standards, and have developed an industry initiative with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to spot suspicious behaviour and to look after people.
"The Online Dating Association and the Trust are now using this to help the industry give its users the best possible protection and support and we fully support this initiative."
Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Allison Rigby of Derbyshire Police said: "This has been a long complex police investigation and I am pleased that at its conclusion we have been able to put a dangerous sexual predator behind bars."
She also said more needed to be done by dating websites to stop similar incidents happening again
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