At the end of last month, Alexander Westwood, a well-known British actor, was convicted of rape and sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison by the Wolverhampton Criminal Court. Recently, the women who were assaulted by him also accepted media interviews and spoke out about how he took advantage of their love for acting and film and television and repeatedly assaulted them.
Alexander Westwood, who is only 24 years old this year, has been in the industry for seven or eight years. His most well-known role is playing a British high school boy in the British drama "Sex Education" which premiered on Netflix in 2019. The character has no name and he himself has never been on the main cast list, but he has also appeared in three seasons and 17 episodes, which can be regarded as a regular passerby. In addition, his actor resume includes some short films that have never been released, or a cameo in the BBC series "Father Brown". However, as long as he can be associated with mainstream film and television works, even if he is just an 18th-tier actor like Westwood, there seems to be a halo behind him.
Westwood in Sex Education
On his personal social media account, Westwood often posts photos of himself with Asa Butterfield, the star of Sex Education, or shows off his experience of being invited by Netflix to attend a special screening of the new film Moon Rebels 2. With such self-packaging, Westwood has taken on a part-time job as an acting instructor in addition to his minor roles in movies. He has also set up his own training class to specifically accept young students who are interested in film and television performances and aspire to become actors.
Alexander Westwood (left) posted a photo with "Sex Education" star Asa Butterfield on his personal social media.
In court this time, jurors were told that Westwood committed crimes against five victims frequently and it had become "a habit, a way of life for him". Among the five sexual crime victims, one female was an adult at the time, and the remaining four were a girl who was only six years old, two were underage girls, and one was a boy who was less than ten years old at the time.
Recently, girl A was interviewed by the British media. She still has lingering fears when recalling this nightmare experience. According to her, she met Westwood, a beast in human clothing, in 2020 when she was 16 years old. At that time, the latter persuaded her mother to sign her up for his acting class with sweet talk. Girl A said that since she could remember, she had longed to become an actor, so she was quite looking forward to this learning opportunity, but she did not expect that she would be raped by the instructor a few weeks after the class started.
"I took my first class at Westwood's home in December 2020. There was nothing suspicious at the beginning. He talked to me a lot about the industry and helped me prepare some monologues so that I could use them when I applied for relevant university majors later," girl A recalled in an interview.
"Before the fourth class, he asked me to prepare a set of costumes for Ophelia, the heroine of Hamlet. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but I didn't think too much about it. On that day, after the first performance, he asked me to change into the costume. I said I wanted to go to the bathroom to change, but he said no, and asked me to change in front of him. At that moment, my brain froze and I was trembling with fear. I said I was not feeling well and wanted to rush out, but he insisted. In the end, I was afraid of being attacked, so I turned my back and quickly took off my clothes. After the performance, under his gaze, I changed back into my daily clothes."
"I tried to tell myself that it would be fine. But this was obviously not the case. Imagine a 16-year-old girl alone in a room with a 21-year-old man. I had no idea what was going to happen next," Girl A continued. "After a while, he said we were going to start training for a new content, which was a love scene in the romantic movie Modern Love Story, starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. At first, we just sat and talked about the lines, and I calmed down a little. But soon he changed his mind and asked me to act out all the actions, including taking off my clothes, touching and kissing him, and even forcing me to put my hand on his genitals."
The first sexual assault ended there. Afterwards, Westwood threatened girl A that if she dared to speak out, he would destroy her life and her dream of becoming an actress. He deliberately showed off his connections, including with the Birmingham Drama School she wanted to apply for. He even threatened girl A to sign a contract stating that if she reported the incident or withdrew from her acting class early, she would owe him £36,000 in compensation.
On January 19, 2021, Westwood arranged for Girl A to imitate the masturbation scene in the Netflix series "Bridgerton" in the acting class, and then took the opportunity to rape her. Afterwards, she bled profusely. In February of that year, the acting class ended as agreed, but during this period, Girl A had been attacked by him many times. After that, Westwood still sent text messages to Girl A's mother: "If she wants to be an actor, she must take classes seriously. As a successful, working actor, and as someone who has worked for the BBC and Netflix, my familiarity with this industry is unquestionable. So I hope you can continue to attend my class here."
In September 2021, girl A finally told the truth to her mother. The two called the police together. After a long investigation, evidence collection and hearing, Westwood was finally found guilty at the end of last year and sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison at the end of last month. However, girl A told the media: "No verdict can make up for what I have lost." In the past few years, she has received various psychological treatments and taken antidepressants, but she still has serious psychological trauma. As for having a relationship, it makes her feel unimaginable.
Westwood's sexual crimes against girl B occurred between May and August 2021, when girl A stopped attending his acting classes. He also used excuses such as acting opposite him, and he chose scenes that were not suitable, such as incest scenes in ancient Greek settings, and touched girl B's breasts and genitals in the process. In addition, while training a 10-year-old boy, he encouraged him to touch his private parts in the name of "playing acting games."
Judge Neil Chawla of Wolverhampton Crown Court in the UK said that Alexander Westwood used his fame to target vulnerable young innocent people, and his behavior was particularly bad. Moreover, throughout the trial, Westwood remained arrogant and unrepentant, and even giggled from time to time when his crimes were read out in court. Therefore, he gave a heavy sentence of 15 and a half years.
