A teenage serial rapist dubbed the “Brixton R Kelly” has been jailed for 12 years after committing a three-year campaign of sexual violence against six young women.
Kevarnie Queen, 19, was convicted in August, following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, of 22 counts of rape committed between 2019 and 2022.
Queen 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.
One of them told of how she “lost her innocence, her voice and her integrity” as a result of Queen’s actions, the court heard.
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.
The teenager could be seen with tear tracks on his face as he left the dock.
Referring to the complainants, the judge said: “They have all been severely traumatised by the events. Given their youth this is likely to be long lasting.”
Expanding on the victim impact statements read out in court last week, the judge said complainants told of attempting suicide or having suicidal thoughts, being manipulated by Queen, being unable to trust men and no longer believing in love.
Referring to one of the women, the judge said: “(She) speaks of your manipulative behaviour and how she ‘lost’ herself.
“She had confided in you about having been previously abused and you took advantage of her vulnerability.
“She suffers from flashbacks, her present relationship has been affected, she finds it difficult to trust others and has relived past trauma that she had tried to bury.”
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.
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.
Queen met all but one of the complainants through Snapchat where he would “flatter and groom them” before arranging to meet, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The court heard on Monday that Queen would flirt, call the women “beautiful” and invite them to his home where he would initiate sexual activity “whether any of them consented or not”, often ignoring direct pleas for him to stop.
He also forced himself on some of the complainants in stairwells in blocks of flats.
On one occasion, a complainant told him that he had just raped her, to which Queen responded: “No, that’s not rape, don’t tell this to anyone, that’s not rape.”
Several of the women suffered from sexually transmitted infections.
The CPS described him as a “prolific sexual predator” who had “no regard for his victims”.
The court heard Queen had the “chance of training for professional football” and that “a likely promising future has been cut short” because of his own offending.
An author of a pre-sentence report stated that Queen has “entrenched beliefs regarding females and entitlement to sex” and described himself as being “a 100% player”.
The author of the report said: “He presented with limited awareness of consent and what it entails, whereby his sexual preoccupation and perceived wants and desires became predatory, and took precedence over the impact on the victims to achieve his expected outcome, which was sex and status.”
He was arrested in April 2020 and then again in June and August 2022 on suspicion of various counts of rape which he denied, claiming the women were all lying and were part of a hate campaign against him.
Following his conviction in August, Laura Devitt, senior crown prosecutor from the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit in London South, commended the “immense bravery and mental fortitude” of the victims to come forward.
“Queen has clearly demonstrated he saw these young girls’ existence purely for his own satisfaction,” she said.
“Queen claimed he was a ‘player’ and knew how to make girls like him and that any activity was consensual.
“His misogynistic and deplorable actions have now been exposed for what they are, and these convictions ensure no further women are caused further irreparable harm at his hands.”
