A “depraved” sexual predator who hoarded thousands of photographs and videos he had secretly filmed of himself abusing unconscious women at his home, has been jailed for 10 years. Craig France, 33, would deliberately pursue women late at night before luring them to “after-parties” at his home. Once there, France would give his victims more drink before committing vile sexual offences against them – offences which he filmed and photographed using hidden cameras.

France recorded himself committing offences on his victims whilst they were unconscious or sleeping – amid fears he may have drugged them. He was arrested in September last year after a woman complained to police of being raped and initially denied the crimes, but pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault, three counts of voyeurism and exposure at a hearing last month. During their investigation, police identified four victims, but fear there could be many more. France’s offending came to light in August last year after a woman reported he had raped her two years previous, and she was now aware he had filmed it.

The victim had been given a shot of “Sambuca” by France while they were in his garden and the next thing she knew, she woke up in his bed with no recollection of what had happened, but knew something untoward had taken place.

Officers trawled through more than 6,000 disturbing images and videos of several unidentified women, who were secretly filmed at his home between March 2022 and September 2023.

They also found the video which showed the victim being raped by France, while she appeared to be “lifeless”.

The harrowing footage showed France carrying the victim, who was unable to stand, before dropping her in a hot tub and then dragging her on a concrete floor.

A further three victims were identified from the videos and images, who were distraught to learn they had unknowingly been filmed, with one saying she felt France had “taken her dignity” and another saying she felt “disgusted”.

On one occasion, France can be seen sexually assaulting a victim as she lay asleep on his sofa and, on another, he filmed an unsuspecting woman’s body in a sexual manner, close-up.

Officers also found a clip where France was seen naked in daylight at a roadside in the Broxbourne area of Hertfordshire.

Today at Cambridge Crown Court, France, of Fengate, Peterborough, was sentenced to 10 years and seven months years in prison. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Sentencing the beast Judge Mr Justice Mark Bishop said: “The nature of those offences show you were predatory towards those women and, when they were incapacitated, you filmed them. Your comments showed no understanding of consent and you are on a journey of further understand of consent. You are misogynistic about women which is deeply unattractive and concerning.

“You accept you became obsessed with recording social activities, that developed into recording your sexual activities. You have an attraction to risky behaviour and I judge that in this case a sense of sexual entitlement, coupled with taking risks and poor self-esteem, is a toxic risk.

“You have not offended since being in a new relationship. That demonstrates the risk that is posed when a relationship ends. This is extraordinary behaviour to engage at the age of 33. You are a risk to society.”

Det Con Em Scates, who investigated, said: “It’s clear France is a depraved and calculating sexual predator and a danger to women. It is one of the worst cases I have dealt with in 23 years of being a police officer.

“The bravery of the survivors of these horrendous crimes has been exceptional. They had been violated in one of the worst possible ways, yet they remained supportive and strong throughout the investigation.”

Det Ch Insp Helen Tebbit said her force feared that due to the sheer amount of footage and the nature of France’s offending, it was possible there were further victims yet to be identified.

She said: “I would encourage anyone who thinks they might’ve been a victim of a sexual offence to contact us on 101 or via web chat on the force website. We take all reports of sexual offences very seriously.

“We have a dedicated team of specially trained officers ready to investigate allegations promptly, fully and professionally, and a network of partnership agencies and support services to offer assistance and support.”

Andrew Young of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Craig France is a deplorable predator who targeted young women and established their trust, before ruthlessly exploiting them.

“By filming and photographing the offences, France built up an extensive set of images which were stored in his phone, all kept for his own sexual gratification.

“He and he alone is to blame for his disgusting offending.

“Determined to seek justice for the brave women he abused, the CPS worked closely with Cambridgeshire Police to demonstrate the extent of his offending and built a set of charges which gave France little option but to plead guilty to.

“The bravery and resilience shown by his victims during this process has been extraordinary, and we hope they feel justice has been served for them.

“The CPS will continue to work tirelessly to pursue those who commit sexual abuse and hold them accountable for their crimes, including asking the court that any relevant devices and images obtained as part of the offending are forfeited and destroyed.”