STEFAN CROCKER, CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER FROM MAIDSTONE, REFUSES TO ENTER JAIL WITHOUT A KISS
A roofer named Stefan Crocker refused to begin his 30-month jail sentence at Maidstone Crown Court until he had exchanged a farewell kiss with his partner, who had been watching from the public gallery.As a security guard attempted to escort him away, Crocker, visibly distressed, yelled, "I am sorry but I can't kiss my girlfriend for (another) 30 months." The scene was witnessed by his victim, who was seated nearby with a police officer and was subsequently led out of the courtroom through a side entrance.
Crocker, of Maybourne Place, Staplehurst, was convicted of sex assault by penetration following an incident on September 30, 2017.
Prosecutor Richard Hearnden recounted that the victim had met Crocker through a dating website, and they arranged to meet in a pub in Tonbridge.
The jury heard that after drinking heavily—vomiting twice on her way home—the victim was sexually assaulted at her residence.
During the trial, Judge Recorder Alistair Webster QC dismissed Crocker’s claim that the victim had planted his DNA on her as "ludicrous," and called him a "glib liar" who had yet to accept responsibility for his actions.
In her impact statement read aloud in court, the victim described her attempt to block out the traumatic event to protect herself.
She said, "I feel foolish and weak to have let it happen to me.
It does make me feel dirty...
I keep asking myself 'why me?'" She emphasized her resilience, stating, "I refuse to let this incident define me.
I am still me.
I didn't deserve this to happen to me.
It shouldn't have happened to anyone.
I feel like I have been taken advantage of and violated...
I want to get on with my life." Additionally, she shared that Crocker's lies had forced her to relive the ordeal, leaving her too frightened to sleep, as she expressed, "He made it look so easy to lie.
I have to live with what he's done and the lies he has told." After the verdict, the judge apologized to the victim for the trial delays, which he called "excessive." He noted that Crocker, who was cleared of a second rape charge, had taken responsibility in a probation report but showed no remorse.
Addressing Crocker directly, the judge said, "I saw you give evidence and I found you a ready and glib and, on the face of it, a persuasive liar."
