Alexander Westwood, a British actor credited with appearing in multiple episodes of Sex Education, has been found guilty of 26 sex offenses.
Per multiple reports from a UK court hearing, Westwood was convicted of raping a 16-year-old and sexually abusing another teenager who came to him for acting lessons.
Westwood denied the offenses, which took place between 2020 and 2021. He was also convicted of assaulting a child over an eight-year period between 2010 and 2018.
Westwood, who filmed for BBC series Doctors and Father Brown, will be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on February 25.
Deadline has contacted Netflix and the BBC to ask if they received any complaints about Westwood’s conduct.
Jurors were told that Westwood was a “rotten apple” and his offending was a “lifestyle” during the trial. “He is a predator,” prosecutor Andrew Wallace said.
Wallace told Wolverhampton Crown Court that the teenagers were “forced to act out the most inappropriate scenes” after seeing Westwood as a gateway to fulfilling their acting dreams.
“As fame beckons, he met two impressionable 16-year-olds and used his revered position to abuse them,” Wallace said, per BBC News.
As part of his teaching, the court heard that Westwood talked to one teenager, who was raped, about a masturbation scene from Bridgerton. When his methods were questioned, he told her: “Do what your teacher says.”
Westwood convinced the second teenager to undress for a Greek mythology scene. He touched her breast and vaginal area, the court was told.
The court heard about a third victim, a woman who was sexually assaulted between September 2020 and October 2021. Westwood was accused of pinning her down by her wrists until she bit him to escape.