Vile landlords breaking the law by offering free accommodation in return for sex are today exposed in a shocking investigation by The Mail on Sunday.
An astonishing quarter of a million women have been targeted by sleazy men hoping to entice them into sharing a bed.
In January, legal guidance was changed to make such exploitation punishable by up to seven years in prison. But just days ago The Mail on Sunday found vast numbers of sex-for-rent offers still on the web.
Our undercover reporters posing as young women struggling to afford accommodation replied to some of the men, who then emailed to describe their expectations in graphic detail. In person they were even more explicit.
Our expose comes after homeless charity Shelter revealed that about 250,000 women have been offered ‘sex-for-rent’ in the past five years.
Our team of undercover reporters, all women in their 20s, was inundated with a string of explicit messages from men across the country after replying to adverts for ‘free’ rooms.
And during a series of meetings, the reporters were told they would have to perform sickening sex acts to live rent-free.
In one disturbing case, our reporter was told by a man on benefits who wanted to sublet his one-bed council flat that he wanted to have daily unprotected sex.
Andrew Bird, a 30-year-old vacuum-cleaner fixer from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, told our reporter: ‘I like the idea of the risk of pregnancy.’
Essex electrician Tony Crossley offered a room in his house in Rayleigh ‘free for fun’.
When asked to clarify what ‘fun’ meant, he replied: ‘Fun is spending a couple of nights with me.’
In text messages following a meeting, he suggested our reporter perform oral sex as an ‘icebreaker’.Landlords often target young female students struggling to fund themselves through university.
In an advert on Craigslist, a website for classified adverts, Colin Luck from Gravesend in Kent described himself as a ‘professional man’ offering a student ‘free lodging and financial assistance’ in exchange for ‘intimacy and companionship’.
Meeting our reporter, he told her: ‘We get together a couple of times a week.’ He assured her: ‘I would always respect you, I would never hurt you,’ and added: ‘I like a bit of tantric sex. I’d like to explore that.’
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued guidance to lawyers at the start of the year classifying such deals as an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, carrying a seven-year jail sentence.
But lawyers and MPs say the guidance does not go far enough and are calling for the creation of a specific offence – making the offer of a room in return for sexual favours a crime in its own right.
Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove, has been campaigning to end sex-for-rent deals and accused Craigslist of ‘acting like pimps’.
He said: ‘The way the law stands at the moment, if you are a victim of sex-for-rent you have to prove you have been forced to become a prostitute in order to get a successful conviction.
‘Craigslist have been acting like pimps by profiting from sexual exploitation. I do not see Craigslist accepting any responsibility for the exploitation of young people they are facilitating. I want sex for rent to become a specific named offence so we can start locking people up.’
Jennie Bibbings, campaign manager at Shelter Cymru, said: ‘It’s horrific that young women – and men – are having to choose between being homeless or having sex with a creepy bloke.’
When approached to comment on his advert, Mr Crossley said: ‘Nothing happened so why is it illegal? There’s loads of ads on there like that. It was a room to help people out, a favour for a favour, like cleaning and keeping the place tidy.’
Mr Bird said he didn’t know such activity was illegal and added: ‘I’ve got nothing to say to you.’
Mr Luck declined to comment. Craigslist failed to respond to calls.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘Offering accommodation in return for sex is illegal.’
