Church rapist found guilty of 10 offences at Portsmouth Crown Court after public rapes of two women

Depraved predator Ion Gheorghe Tanasie, 40, of Pound Farm Road, Chichester, was convicted at Portsmouth Crown Court following the remorseless attacks on the lone vulnerable females at night in Chichester.

The first sex attack took place on the evening of 24 July last year when Tanasie raped a woman within the grounds of St Paul’s Church. Following the ordeal, the victim was able to make her way back towards the town centre, where she found friends who reported it to police.

From examination of the woman’s clothes, Tanasie was nominated as the suspect. While there was no trace of him on the UK DNA database, he was identified through checks with Interpol.

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As enquiries continued, police received a report of another rape on the evening of September 19 last year in The Hornet. Again, the woman was able to report the incident shortly after it occurred.

Following a CCTV trawl of the area, Tanasie was identified as the suspect. Within days he was located and arrested, and charged with the following offences for the first incident: rape, sexual assault, and two counts of assault by penetration.

He was also charged with the following offences for the second incident: rape, attempted rape, assault by penetration, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and two counts of sexual assault. By this time, detectives had linked the two cases and Tanasie was therefore remanded in custody to prevent further offending and to protect the public from harm.

He denied the offences and the case went for trial, where he was found guilty by jury of all 10 charges against him. He has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at a date yet to be set.

Investigating officer, detective chief Inspector Alex Campbell, said: ‘This was a complex investigation where Tanasie deliberately targeted vulnerable women whilst they were out in public. The quick work of the investigation team to link these two offences and identify Tanasie using international DNA databases led to a swift arrest and the removal of a dangerous individual from our streets.

‘I would like to praise the courage of the victims in this Investigation for coming forward to report these horrendous crimes and their ongoing support through to – and including – the trial.

‘The impact this offending has had on the victims is huge and having to relive that experience through the court process has brought that trauma back. I thank them for their bravery and with them we have been able to get the justice they deserve.’

Chief inspector Nick Bowman added: ‘The swift and effective investigation of this appalling case has removed the risk locally from this dangerous individual. People should feel confident and safe in their community. Following these offences we increased and targeted our visible presence in the areas concerned and will continue to flex our resources where we identify a risk.

‘I would encourage any victim of any sexual offence to talk to us, we will listen to you and we will help you. Thankfully this type of case is very rare and I am very grateful to the investigation team for their hard work in securing the conviction.’