Ex-UK lawmaker sentenced to 2 years in jail for sex assaults
LONDON (AP) — A former British lawmaker was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for sexually assaulting two women a decade apart.
Judge Philippa Whipple told Charlie Elphicke he was “a sexual predator who used your success and respectability as a cover.”
The judge said Elphicke had told “a pack of lies” in court, while his victims had shown “great courage” and told the truth.
Elphicke, a former Conservative legislator, was convicted in July at London's Southwark Crown Court of three counts of assault against two victims.
One victim said Elphicke, 49, kissed her and groped her at his London home in 2007 before chasing her around the residence chanting “I’m a naughty Tory.”
The second woman, a parliamentary worker in her early 20s, said Elphicke tried to kiss her and then groped her when they met for a drink in April 2016. She said he assaulted her again a month later.
Elphicke was the Conservative lawmaker in the southeast England seat of Dover from 2010 until November 2017, when the allegations emerged and he was suspended from the party. He was controversially restored by then-Prime Minister Theresa May a year later, just before a key party vote on her leadership.
He stepped down before the U.K.’s general election in December, and his now-estranged wife, Natalie, contested and won his former seat.
Another Conservative lawmaker was arrested last month on suspicion of rape. He is on bail and police have not released his name — common practice in the U.K. until a suspect is charged.
