A 53-year-old man, Christopher Cox, has become the first person to been sentenced to prison for 12 months for a “sex for rent” offence in the United Kingdom.
It was reported that he targeted vulnerable young women to live with him at his home in Cranleigh, in 2018. He posted ads on Craigslist looking for young or homeless women to stay at his home in Cranleigh, Surrey.
“A girl in need” and asked, “If you are a young girl 16-plus who is stuck at home and wants to get away, or maybe you are homeless seeking a safe route out, I have a room available in my home for a young girl,” the ad read.
In the advert he said, in return for a place to stay, they were expected to ‘cook, clean, do laundry and possibly more’. He reportedly told women to wear bikinis around the house, take part in BDSM, and also sleep in his bed in exchange for house rent.
In August 2018, two female undercover reporters from ITV’s The Kyle Files responded to online ads for ‘a girl in need,’ alerting cops to his behavior.
The Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday, May 10 heard that, even after he was challenged on camera, Cox still continued sending out his adverts.
Hence, Cox was sentenced to six months on each of the two charges of inciting prostitution for gain, which relate to two women between August 21 and September 6 2018 and November 4 and 7 2018.
He was also jailed for 12 months for controlling prostitution for gain between May 17 and June 27 2018.
He has become “colloquially known as sex-for-rent,” according to the judge, and “this is the first such prosecution.”
