Serial Snapchat rapist jailed for 12 years

A serial rapist dubbed the 'Brixton R Kelly' has been jailed for 12 years after committing a three-year campaign of sexual violence against six teenagers.

Kevarnie Queen, 19, manipulated and brutally raped six girls as young as 15, grooming the majority of them through social media platform Snapchat.

He was convicted in August, following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, of 22 counts of rape committed between 2019 and 2022.

Queen - who the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said was known on social media as the 'Brixton R Kelly' - was 15 years old during much of his offending and all the complainants, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were under the age of 18.

Some of his victims, whose harrowing victim impact statements were read aloud in court, were religious and had planned on having sex only after marriage.

One victim told of how she 'lost her innocence, her voice and her integrity' as a result of Queen's , the court heard. One victim even described predatory Queen as a 'demon'.

Several of them had attempted suicide after being abused by Queen and three had also contracted sexually transmitted infections.

The defendant was likened on social media to American R&B singer R Kelly, who was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison for child pornography and enticement of minors for sex.

His first victim, who was raped by Queen when they were both just 15, told the court she had isolated herself after her abuse and still struggled to leave her home years later.

Another victim, who wrote her statement to directly address Queen, told the court she had attempted suicide on three separate occasions and had turned to drugs to 'numb the pain'.

During his trial, Queen claimed he had cheated on all his victims and that, as a result, they had conspired together to teach him a lesson. But a jury convicted him of the 22 rape offences.

Judge Karu explained how Queen would manipulate the girls into believing they were in a relationship with him in which non-consensual sex was normal.

'You raped five 15-year-old girls, and all but one of them were raped more than once,' he said. 'It mattered not to you whether any of them consented or not. You manipulated each of them to believing they were in a relationship with you so that they wouldn't report you.'

Judge Usha Karu, honorary recorder of Southwark, handed Queen an extended sentence of 16 years on Monday. The longest he will remain in detention at a young offenders' institution is 12 years, after which he will be on extended licence for four years.

Judge Karu found Queen legally dangerous and said: 'You are a confident young man and appear to continue to hold the same firm views in respect of sex, and entitlement to it, which you did at the time of offending.'

She subjected him to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order as well as indefinite notification requirements.