Sex Education Actor Alexander Westwood Jailed for 15 Years for Sex Offences

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Alexander Westwood, a 24-year-old actor who appeared in the Netflix series Sex Education, has been jailed for 15 and a half years for committing 26 sex offences against children and pupils. The actor, who also appeared in the BBC's Doctors series, used his minor celebrity status to prey on impressionable and naive young girls under the guise of acting lessons. Westwood's abuse of his youngest victim started when she was six years old and he was 10, with the prosecutor stating that it led to years of "the normalisation of sexual abuse".

Westwood's victims said they had suffered from panic attacks, claustrophobia, and anxiety since his abuse, with one victim stating that she had come to "despise everything to do with acting, even though it was my passion". The actor was described as "manipulative and predatory" and jurors were told that his repeated offending against five victims was "a habit, a lifestyle". The judge said that Westwood's "campaign of sexual offending" had "devastating consequences for the five victims" and that he had displayed a "seemingly nonchalant attitude" that bordered on "arrogance". Westwood was found guilty of raping a teenage girl and carrying out his first attack when he was just 10 years old and his victim was six.

The actor's abuse of his victims included forcing them to engage in role-play scenarios while naked, including one who was made to strip while reading a monologue by Ophelia from Hamlet. He also filmed one aspiring actress naked on his iPad and tried to bill her family for £18,000 when she started missing his lessons after he sexually abused her. Westwood created "game shows" with children, forcing them to watch pornography and undress, and was described as a "supreme manipulator" who used his stardom to prey on victims. The sexual harm caused by Westwood's actions has been long-lasting, with his victims suffering from anxiety and claustrophobia since the abuse.

Here is a timeline of events: * Westwood's abuse of his youngest victim started when she was six years old and he was 10 * Between November 2020 and September 2021, Westwood raped and sexually assaulted an acting student who had lessons with him * In May and August 2021, Westwood abused a second teenager, forcing her to act out "inappropriate" scripts and strip * Westwood was found guilty of 26 sex offences in December * Westwood was jailed for 15 and a half years in February 2025 The judge also issued restraining orders with regards to all five victims and Westwood was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 26 years.

Westwood could have faced 77 counts against him, but it would have been "unwieldy" to prosecute so they were condensed down to 26. The actor's sentences for 11 of the 26 counts were reduced by half because he was a minor when the offences were committed. Once released, Westwood will spend four years on licence and a restraining order bans him from contacting his victims for 26 years. The case has sparked widespread outrage and concern about the safety of children and young people in the entertainment industry.