Serial Rapist Sentenced to 14 Years
Alexander Steven, 52, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for attacking five vulnerable women at knifepoint in Dundee between October 2020 and October 2022.
A trial judge highlighted that Steven deliberately targeted overseas sex workers, believing they would be less likely to report the crimes to the police.
He was convicted of five counts of rape and two additional charges of sexual assault with intent to rape.
The court heard Steven telling one victim:
"Who are the police going to believe? A white Scottish man or a Brazilian prostitute?"
Following his release, Steven will be supervised in the community for four years and placed on the sex offenders register for life, as ordered by Judge Norman McFadyen KC.
At the conclusion of the trial last year, Judge McFadyen addressed the jurors:
"This has been a particularly troublesome case and I appreciate you have had to listen to, and indeed watch, distressing evidence."
Evidence Presented at Trial
During the trial, the jury viewed a video recorded by Steven on a mobile phone showing a woman tied to a bed and being sexually assaulted.
Steven claimed that the victims were engaging in role play during the assaults.
Details of the Attacks
The first victim recounted moving into a flat in Dundee after ending a relationship in London. She described answering a knock at the door when a male intruder entered and closed the door behind him.
Speaking through a translator, she said:
"Then he showed me this knife with him and then he forced me into this room."
She stated she was not a sex worker and managed to escape through a window.
Steven was convicted of forcibly entering the flat in 2020 and assaulting the woman with intent to rape her.
Two months later, Steven committed his first rape by attacking a woman in the Lochee area of Dundee.
In the following year, he raped the same woman again, holding a knife to her neck during the assault.
Subsequent Attacks
In August 2021, Steven attacked and raped a third woman at a flat in Dundee, threatening her with a knife at her throat.
A fourth woman was subjected to assaults and rape by Steven between March 2021 and October 2022. During these attacks, knives were held to her throat and she was threatened with a screwdriver.
A fifth victim reported that Steven came to a flat in Hilltown in May 2022, where he assaulted and raped her.
She said that upon his arrival, she told him he would have to pay her first, but he produced a knife, placed it against her neck, and said:
"I don't pay for sex."
Despite her offer to give him money, he replied:
"I don't want money. I want sex."
The woman described feeling "very much afraid" during the incident.
Defendant's Statements and Court Proceedings
Steven told the court that initially he sought sex workers for consensual encounters but later decided to "explore the idea of doing more." He explained using Google Translate to communicate with the women.
He admitted asking if the women engaged in role play, specifically rape role play, assuring them they would not be harmed.
Steven maintained he believed he had the consent of all the women involved.
Advocate depute Leanne Cross stated that Steven arranged meetings with women who typically worked alone and were vulnerable when he arrived armed with a weapon.
Defence counsel Janice Green described the case as unusual, noting Steven's criminal behavior began in middle age.
Judge McFadyen also issued non-harassment orders preventing Steven from contacting or attempting to contact his victims.
