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The wealthy businessman father of a man described as “Britain’s most prolific rapist” told the media his son’s life sentence “fits his crimes,” according to a report.
Saibun Sinaga told BBC Indonesia over the phone: "We accept the verdict. His punishment fits his crimes. I don't want to discuss the case any further."
His son Reynhard, a 36-year-old Indonesian national, was sentenced to life in prison after his yearslong “campaign of rape" in which he lured dozens of intoxicated men to his apartment and drugged them before filming his sexual assaults, authorities said Monday.
Reynhard, the oldest of four children, was found guilty of 159 counts of sexual offenses against 48 different men, the Greater Manchester Police said in a news release, identifying Sinaga for the first time after restrictions were lifted.
He will serve a minimum of 30 years before being considered for release, police said.
Sinaga arrived in Britain from his native Indonesia on a student visa in 2007. He received two degrees in sociology and planning from the University of Manchester and was studying for his doctorate at the University of Leeds when he was suspended following his arrest in 2017.
His thesis was called: “Sexuality and everyday transnationalism. South Asian gay and bisexual men in Manchester.”
BBC said Reynhard was born in 1983 into a conservative Christian family, part of the Batak tribe from the island of Sumatra.
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His father owns several branches of a private bank.
The news outlet said the father's money allowed his firstborn to be a perpetual fee-paying international student for more than 10 years, up until his arrest in June 2017.
This is an undated handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) on Monday, Jan. 6, 2020 of Reynhard Sinaga. A man described as “the most prolific rapist in British legal history” has been sentenced to life in prison with a possible release after 30 years following his conviction for sexual offenses against 48 men. (GMP via AP)
The father’s money also paid for Reynhard’s apartment in the heart of Manchester's city center.
Living near Manchester's Gay Village, he was able to express his homosexuality openly in a way that was impossible in Indonesia.
He would befriend the young men, including many who were intoxicated, and offer them a place to stay at his apartment, police said. Many of his victims were unconscious as he recorded the forced sexual encounters on video.
Sinaga managed to keep a low profile with police until June 2017 when a victim woke up during one of the “sickening attacks” and fought back, police said. He was arrested immediately after the incident was reported.
The convictions stem from crimes Sinaga committed from January 2015 until his arrest in 2017, the BBC reported. However, police believe the assaults may have begun years earlier.
Investigators found evidence linking Sinaga to over 190 potential victims, including the 48 men he was charged with assaulting, police said. Investigators have yet to identify 79 of the potential victims.
Judge Suzanne Goddard said in Manchester Crown Court the true number of Sinaga’s victims may never be known.
“You are an evil serial sexual predator who has preyed upon young men who came into the city center wanting nothing more than a good night out with their friends,” she said. “One of your victims described you as a monster. The scale and enormity of your offending confirms this as an accurate description.”
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She said the courts had rarely if ever seen such a prolonged “campaign of rape.”
“It is almost beyond belief that someone who could profess some Christian faith could at the same time have been committing such wicked and evil crimes,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.