Bexhill window cleaner Frederick Thomas Lake jailed for raping woman in Hastings while she slept

A Bexhill man who raped a woman at an address in Hastings after meeting her hours earlier, has been given a seven-year prison sentence, police said.
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Frederick Thomas Lake, a window cleaner, of Withyham Road, Cooden, Bexhill, was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Friday (October 29), having been convicted in August of the rape of the woman at an address in Hastings on October 20, 2018.

Police said he will be a registered sex offender indefinitely, and was also given a restraining order for life, prohibiting him from any contact with his victim.

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Detective Constable Liz Brunt, of the East Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit, said: “Lake was clearly a predatory offender, taking the opportunity to assault his victim when she was asleep and thus at her most vulnerable.”

Frederick Thomas Lake. Picture from Sussex Police SUS-210211-111045001Frederick Thomas Lake. Picture from Sussex Police SUS-210211-111045001
Frederick Thomas Lake. Picture from Sussex Police SUS-210211-111045001

She added they had met in the town and gone back to a flat later.

She said: “But when she became tired and went to go to sleep in a bedroom, Lake followed and attacked her.

“The woman did not consent to what was happening and as soon as she reported the offence we began immediate enquiries resulting in Lake’s arrest, prosecution by the CPS, and eventual conviction.

“She bravely gave evidence at his trial which was clearly key in securing justice.”