20-Year-Old Rapist Broke Into A House And Rape Woman As She Slept Next To Her Boyfriend

A cat burglar sexually assaulted three young women in a night of terror after creeping along rooftops to break into their homes, a court heard.

Travis Gotting, 20, broke into two different student properties where he sexually assaulted the young women and stole items from around their apartments.

Reading Crown Court heard he even started having sex with one of the women as she lay sleeping with her boyfriend lying next to her in bed before the couple awoke and chased him from their home.
Gotting was yesterday told by a judge that he was 'unpredictable and volatile' and will serve a minimum of four years in prison for the public's protection before he can be considered for release.

The court was told Gotting had been spotted clambering over the rooftops of homes in an area popular with students studying at Reading University. He then climbed into one flat through an unsecured window and sneaked into the second floor bedroom of a 20-year-old student as she slept following a heavy night out.

Prosecutor Sandra Beck said: 'She became aware of someone saying to her ‘hello baby’. She had gone to bed alone. 'She felt hands upon her, she felt the person touch her under her pyjamas.' The startled victim woke up and ordered Gotting out of her room. Gotting then crept into her 20-year-old flatmate’s room, who lay asleep in bed with her boyfriend.

Miss Beck added: 'She awoke and felt a man’s arms around her and thought it was her boyfriend. 'She was half asleep and thought no more of it.

'She had a recollection of having sex from behind and at some point she fully woke up and her recollection was that there was a stranger between them. 'Gotting got up and said something about being in ‘Dave’s house’. Her boyfriend chased him out and called the police.'

Gotting escaped with a number of items stolen from the property, in Earley Road, Reading, and half an hour later struck at another home just 100 yards away in nearby Donnington Road.

He then entered a room where two sisters were sleeping and when one awoke he told her that the landlord had given him permission for him to stay. But when the 21-year-old woman bent down to get him a sleeping bag, Gotting touched her bottom, so the sisters ordered him to leave. After he'd left they noticed items were missing - including cash, an iPod and a mobile phone.

Miss Beck said both women from the first house targeted by Gottingn no longer felt safe in their own homes.

The first of Gotting’s victims had been so traumatised by her ordeal that she had abandoned her studies altogether and moved back in with her parents. In a statement read to the court, she said: 'I could no longer continue living in Reading. I had to quit university, all the effort that I put into my degree has been abandoned.'

The second victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: 'I am paranoid about open windows, I suffer from anxiety and I am constantly on edge.'

Gotting, from Shinfield, Reading, admitted burglary, rape and sexual assault.

Judge Stephen John said Gotting displayed a 'limited understanding' of his sexual offending. He told him: 'You are unable to explain your motivation for the serious and repeated sexual offending behaviour, your victims being vulnerable and unknown females. 'You were not deterred by being confronted by your victims when they woke up, going on to commit further offences.'

Judge John jailed Gotting for a minimum of four years - and he will not be released until he can prove he is no longer a risk to the public. He said: 'This is the minimum period you must serve before you can even be considered for release.

'It may be much longer, and it will be unless you can prove you are not a danger to the public. 'Unless you can do so you may never be released.'

In addition to the minimum four year term, Gotting was told that he must also serve three years for the assault by penetration, and two for the burglary and sexual assault charges - to run concurrently with the rape sentence.

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