The ex-Tory MP has been jailed for sex assaults on women today.
49 year old Charlie Elphicke was sentenced to two years prison at Southwark Crown Court in south London.
The sentencing judge, Mrs Justice Whipple, described Elphicke as a “sexual predator” who used his “success and respectability as a cover”.
“You made your victims come to court,” she said.
“They told the truth, and you told a pack of lies – not only to the jury, but your wife, the whips and the police.”
The court had heard how Elphicke declared himself a “naughty Tory” as he chased his first victim around his central London family home in summer 2007, moments after groping her while they shared a bottle of wine.
He also groped a second woman, a parliamentary worker in her early 20s with whom he was “besotted”, twice in a month in 2016.
The victim, a parliamentary worker aged in her 20s, said the assaults in 2016 left her with a feeling of “fear and helplessness”.
“He stole a large part of my self-worth and self-esteem,” she said in a statement read to the court.
Elphicke sexually assaulted her twice, the first involving him attempting to kiss her and groping her breast.
In the second assault several weeks later, he ran his hand up the inside of her thigh towards her groin.
Southwark Crown Court also heard how Elphicke lied to police and his wife about what had happened.
The judge said to him: “You treated what you did as a joke, saying of yourself that you were ‘naughty’ in an attempt to trivialise your actions.
“You suggested to each woman that this was something they wanted, that they had encouraged, that they had enjoyed. That was not true. They had not encouraged you or led you on. Your behaviour was also an abuse of power.”
However, within minutes of his jailing, Elphicke confirmed he would appeal against his conviction, arguing he had not had a “fair trial”.
He was also ordered to pay £35,000 in costs, although his lawyer said he had “a fair bit of debt”, and that his estranged wife lent him £100,000 to pay legal bills.
Share on your Social Networks