A man has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison for “stealthing” – the act of removing a condom during sex without consent.
Guy Mukendi, 39, from Brixton, was convicted on Thursday at Inner London Crown Court for raping a woman last year. The woman had agreed to sex on the condition that a condom was used, but Mukendi removed it without her consent.
In the UK, nonconsensual condom removal is legally considered rape.
Metropolitan Police collaborated with the victim to obtain messages from Mukendi in which he apologized for removing the condom, citing a long period of sexual inactivity. He later deleted these messages.
Officers also collected forensic evidence with the victim’s help, leading to Mukendi’s conviction by a jury on April 2.
DC Jack Earl, who led the investigation, stated that Mukendi denied any wrongdoing throughout, but the police built a strong case that left no doubt for the jury.
He emphasized the importance of seeking justice for the victim and raising awareness that this act constitutes rape.
The police highlighted that prosecutions for stealthing are rare due to under-reporting.
The first conviction for stealthing in England and Wales was in 2019 when Lee Hogben from Bournemouth was jailed for 12 years for raping a sex worker who had consented to sex only with a condom.
Scotland’s first conviction occurred last year when Luke Ford failed to use a condom despite being given one by a woman who insisted on protection. Ford was found guilty of 18 offenses against women.
While the prevalence of stealthing in the UK is unknown, a 2018 survey at a sexual health clinic in Melbourne, Australia, revealed that a third of women and a fifth of men who have sex with men had experienced stealthing, but only 1% reported it to the police.
According to the England and Wales Sexual Offences Act 2003, consent is defined as agreeing by choice with the freedom and capacity to make that choice, and it is not given if the defendant intentionally deceived the complainant about the nature or purpose of the act.
