Serial sex offender jailed after second rape conviction

A serial sex offender has been jailed for rape, three years after he was released early from his last sentence.

Rashane Lee, 26, of Old Kent Road, Southwark, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to 13 years in prison at Inner London Crown Court.

Met Detective Jack Woods, who led the investigation, said: “This verdict is testament to the bravery of the victim whose evidence helped us secure this conviction.”

The court heard how on June 1, 2024, the victim had been out for the day in Central London with her sister and friends. 

As she made her way home at around 11pm she was approached by Lee. 

He began to talk to her and offered to accompany her home as they lived, he claimed, in a similar direction. 

The victim attempted to dissuade him, however he persisted, before taking her to a secluded area and raping her. 

After the victim reported the incident to police, forensic analysis found a match for Lee, with a probability of one billion to one.

Lee was arrested at his partner’s home address on June 11, 2024. 

Despite the weight of DNA evidence, Lee denied the allegation of rape during his interview.

Instead, he claimed that samples were faulty or contaminated in the lab. Lee also claimed that his DNA must have changed and that he had never even met the victim.

He was charged on June 12. Following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, Lee was found guilty on December 23, after less than two hours of deliberation.

At the time of his arrest, Lee was on the registered sexual offender list. 

He pleaded guilty to breaking its conditions. 

He had been convicted of rape in 2016 in circumstances that were almost identical to the incident in June, police said.

Monitoring of Lee was led by the Probation Service and the Met Jigsaw team also monitored Lee in a limited capacity. 

Lee was released from prison in September 2022. As well as receiving a 13 year custodial sentence, he will also see his licence extended by seven years.

Detective Woods said: “Lee is an extremely dangerous individual who deliberately targeted a lone woman and hoped that because she had had a few drinks she would be too confused to come forward to police. 

“This was not the case and despite his arrogance, there was no doubt to his guilt.

“We hope that this result demonstrates that no matter the circumstances, we will always take victim-survivors accounts extremely seriously, and do all we can to ensure that predators, like Lee, are taken off the streets.”

Pictured top: Rashane Lee, 26, of Old Kent Road, Southwark, was found guilty of two counts of rape (Picture: The Met)