Warning: This article contains information about sexual assault.
An Indonesian man living in Britain has been jailed for life after he was found guilty of multiple rapes of unsuspecting men who he drugged and assaulted.
Reynhard Sinaga, 36, has been found guilty of 159 offences across four separate trials – including 136 unprotected anal rapes he filmed on two mobile phones.
Sinaga arrived in Britain from Indonesia as student in 2007, from then up until his arrest in June 2017 he lived off money sent to him by his father, a banker. His family also paid for his apartment which was in Montana House, nearby to Manchester’s Factory Nightclub.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Sinaga’s modus operandi was to approach intoxicated young men in the central Manchester and lure them back to his strategically located flat, which was near the city’s nightspots.
There Sinaga spiked defenceless victims with sedatives, probably a GHB-laced shot, to render them unconscious – then filmed himself raping them, in many cases repeatedly for hours on end.
His crimes only became known in 2017 when an 18-year-old victim woke up mid-assault and managed to get away with his attacker’s white iPhone 4.
When police examined Sinaga’s multiple digital devices, they discovered 3.29 terabytes of extremely graphic material – equivalent to 250 DVDs or 300,000 photos – depicting sexual assaults lasting, in one case, for eight hours.
Many of his victims were unaware they had been assaulted until the police publicised his actions and tracked down the numerous victims.
Throughout his trial Sinaga maintained that the acts recorded were consensual role plays. A defence that prosector’s labeled “ludicrous”.
To handle the sheer volume of offences the CPS split the prosecution into four separate trials of 10-13 victims.
The four separate trials were took over two years to conduct. The first trial that ran from 1 June 2018 to 10 July 2018 saw Sinaga convicted of 31 counts of rape, three counts of attempted rape and six counts of sexual assault upon 12 victims.
The second trial, which featured 13 victims, was heard between 1 April 2019 and 7 May 2019 saw Sinaga convicted of 49 counts of rape, five counts of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault
The third trial was heard between 16 September 2019 and 4 October 2019 and saw Sinaga convicted of 26 counts of rape, one count of assault by penetration and five counts of sexual assault, committed against 10 victims.
The most recent fourth trial heard testimony from 10 victims and ran between 2 December 2019 and 20 December 2019. This saw Sinaga convicted of 30 counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault.
After the first two trials he was sentenced to life imprisonment, he was given additional life sentences today with a minimum time of 30 years.
Ian Rushton, CPS North West Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, said if Sinaga had not been caught, there was no doubt he’d still be assaulting unsuspecting men.
“Reynhard Sinaga is the most prolific rapist in British legal history.
“His extreme sense of sexual entitlement almost defies belief and he would no doubt still be adding to his staggering tally had he not been caught.
“Sinaga’s unthreatening demeanour duped these young men – many of whom thanked him for his kindness in offering them a place to stay – into thinking this monster was a Good Samaritan.
“But once back at his flat he used victims as objects purely for his own gratification – then appears to have derived further twisted pleasure from re-watching his films in court and putting victims through the trauma of giving evidence.
Rushton thanked the victims who testified at the trials saying the defendant’s refusal to acknowledge his crimes had forced many of them to relive the experience.
“I would like to pay tribute and express my gratitude to all of these men for their incredible resilience, bravery and strength in helping us bring these harrowing cases to court.
“They have suffered severe and life-changing psychological trauma but should feel very proud that thanks to them this highly dangerous predator may never walk our streets again.” Rushton said.
“We hope this will at least bring them some comfort as they come to terms with what has happened and move on with their lives.”
Sinaga was open about his sexuality and socialised in bars around Manchester’s Canal Street. During his fourth trial he shared that he used dating apps including Grindr and Hornet.
Friends shared that he would often talk about “turning” straight men, and share stories of his sexual escapades but told the court they were shocked to discover he’d committed a massive number of crimes.
Those who knew him said he was never known as someone who used drugs or attended chemsex parties, and they surprised he lived a secret life.
Police have not ruled out further charges being laid if more victims are identified in the future.
OIP Staff
