Mansfield man raped teenage girl and sexually assaulted another underage victim
A Mansfield “sexual predator” who raped and sexually assaulted a teenage girl used the same modus operandi against another underage victim, a jury has found.
Peter Whetstone's 16-year-old victim made it "absolutely clear" she didn't want to have sex with him and slapped him to get him to stop, said David Spens KC, prosecuting.
Whetstone slapped the girl back and held her by the neck before raping her "forcefully," he said.
In a police interview the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she bled as a result.
Whetstone denied raping her, as well as two counts of sexual assault, but was found guilty of all three counts by a jury on Friday.
On two previous occasions he tried to "touch her up" and, when she pushed his hand away from her upper thigh, he gripped her hand and forced her to touch his genitals, the court heard.
He had sent videos to her of him performing a sexual act, insisted she send him nude pictures “for weeks if not months before,” she told the jury. When she refused, Whetstone called her a tease.
Whetstone, now aged 28, of Cromford Avenue, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault against another girl, aged 15, before his trial started.
She was a child at the time and not legally capable of consenting, Mr Spens told the jury.
Whetstone sent his 16-year-old victim a message of apology after accusations were made on social media, saying: "I just want to apologise for everything I have done and all the pain I have caused.”
But during cross-examination he said: “I didn't want them to go to the police together and help one another.”
He said he wanted to apologise to his older victim because there was a seven-year age gap, and both of them had partners at the time.
Whetstone denied being attracted to younger girls but conceded both women had been "less worldly" than him. He sent them both sexual pictures of himself and asked them to send him similar pictures.
Mr Spens said: "I am suggesting that sexting girls was your modus operandi to try and warm them up so you can have sex with them."
Whetstone will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on November 7.