Locations
Denton Holme, Carlisle, CA2
Description
A CARLISLE sex offender who preyed on vulnerable young males has been found guilty of raping a second victim and sexually assaulting a third.
A judge told 48-year-old convicted child rapist Barrie O’Keefe that experts will now assess how dangerous he is following his conviction for raping a 20-year-old man and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
The new offences against the teenager and the older victim bore chilling similarities to O’Keefe’s earlier rape of a 15-year-old boy, Carlisle Crown Court heard.
He plied all three victims with alcohol and drugs to render them helpless before sexually abusing them. Both teenagers were attacked after being lured away by O’Keefe for overnight fishing trips which involved spending the night in a tent.
Formerly of Denton Holme, Carlisle, O’Keefe denied all the offences, committed 18 years ago, but he was convicted after a four-day trial.
Judge Michael Fanning ruled that O’Keefe will be sentenced on a date which has yet to be fixed following the preparation of background reports and the dangerousness assessment. The judge also requested victim person statements.
He told O’Keefe: “I require victim personal statements so that I understand the real impact these awful offences have had on your victims.
“There is the complicating factor that you were sent to prison for offences committed at the same time, offending that was virtually identical. I am concerned about your conduct towards young boys, and young men.
“Whether you are dangerous is something I have to give consideration to and I require reports to assist that.”
After remanding O’Keefe in custody, the judge thanked the jury, pointing out that the offences before the court changed the lives of the two victims and he needed more information about the impact of O’Keefe’s “hideous offending.”
“He is going to receive an inevitably lengthy sentence of imprisonment,” added the judge.
The older victim told the trial that O’Keefe had “ruined his life.”
He recalled how on the day when England were playing Portugal in the World Cup in 2006, the defendant plied him with drink and cannabis, leaving him “wasted.”
O’Keefe then sneaked into the room of the house where the man was living and rendered him helpless with drugs known as “poppers” before raping him.
“It just ruined my life," said the man. "I couldn't cope with it; I was angry, drinking too much. I wasn’t able to make rational decisions or deal with things. It got to the point where it was ruining my life.”
O'Keefe was also convicted of sexually touching a second teenager.
In April, police persuaded a court to impose a “sexual risk order” on O’Keefe which bans him from being in the company of any lone male.
Cumbria Constabulary applied for the order after revealing that O’Keefe had been a suspect in multiple rape investigations.
Granting the order, the district judge said: “This defendant has demonstrated a propensity to target and sexually abuse vulnerable males for many years.”