Photographer Paul Brown jailed for rape during bogus shoots Published duration 7 February

image caption Paul Brown, also known as Paul Smart, set up a fake modelling agency to lure his victims

A photographer who raped models in his studio during bogus casting shoots has been jailed for 21 years.

Paul Brown, 41, from Okehampton, Devon, was convicted at Exeter Crown Court of 15 rapes against six women and voyeurism against five others.

Brown led his victims to believe they could become models if they stripped off and had sex during their casting session.

Sentencing Judge David Evans said Brown was "a compulsive liar and fantasist".

He said: "You are also that very dangerous thing, an extremely convincing and persuasive liar."

image copyright Devon and Cornwall Police image caption Once the women were in his studio, Brown persuaded some to have sex with him on camera

Brown pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism, which involved him installing a hidden camera to spy on a woman in a bathroom.

The court previously heard Brown carried out his offences between 2012 and 2018. His victims' ages ranged between their late teens and their 60s.

Brown set up a fake modelling agency called Models South West - which he pretended had nothing to do with him - to lure the aspiring models in.

Through the "agency", Brown contacted women on Facebook, telling them they had the potential to be models. He then invited them to the studio.

Once there, he persuaded some to have sex with him on camera and convinced others to strip for what he called "artistic nude" sessions.

image copyright Devon and Cornwall Police image caption Brown kept a record of his sexual conquests in a black book, including details of his victims and scores out of 10

Det Insp Praveen Naidoo said Brown was one of the "most prolific sex offenders in the history of Devon and Cornwall Police".

He said it had been a "particularly complex rape investigation", which had taken more than two years to crack.

"He raped and sexually assaulted women over a period of five years," said Det Insp Praveen.

"He created a web of deceit to coerce women, many of whom were vulnerable, into allowing him to sexually assault and rape them. It wasn't until one brave young woman came forward that police were able to unravel the web that he had created."

Michael French from the CPS said its case against Brown was that by lying to the women he took away their capacity to choose and freely consent.

Mr French said: "His victims were made to submit to his will under the pressure of the situation he created through his lies.

"These women were deceived into believing they were attending photo shoots for the purposes of being accepted by a modelling agency. They say they would not have acted as they did if they had known the truth, which is that the agency didn't exist and Brown was acting purely for his own personal pleasure".