Carlisle rapist Barrie O’Keefe guilty of second rape and sexual assault

A judge told 48-year-old convicted child rapist Barrie O’Keefe that experts would now assess how dangerous he was following his conviction for raping a 20-year-old man and sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy.

The new offences against the teenager and the older victim bore frightening similarities to O’Keefe’s earlier rape of a 15-year-old boy, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

He administered alcohol and drugs to all three victims to render them helpless before sexually abusing them. Both teenagers were attacked after being kidnapped by O’Keefe for an overnight fishing trip where they had to spend the night in a tent.

O’Keefe, formerly of Denton Holme, Carlisle, denied all offences committed 18 years ago but was found guilty after a four-day trial.

Judge Michael Fanning ordered that O’Keefe be sentenced on a date to be determined after background reports and dangerousness assessments are conducted. The judge also requested personal statements from the victim.

He told O’Keefe: “I need personal statements from victims so that I can understand the true impact of these horrific crimes on your victims.

“To make matters worse, you have been sent to prison for virtually identical crimes that you committed at the same time. I am concerned about your behaviour towards young boys and young men.

“I need to consider whether you are dangerous, and for that I need reports.”

After O’Keefe was remanded in custody, the judge thanked the jury and pointed out that the crimes before the court had changed the lives of both victims and that he needed more information about the impact of O’Keefe’s “heinous crime”.

“He will inevitably receive a long prison sentence,” the judge added.

The elderly victim said at the trial that O’Keefe had “ruined his life.”

He recalled how the defendant had plied him with alcohol and cannabis on the day England played Portugal in the 2006 World Cup, causing him to become “drunk”.

O’Keefe then sneaked into the room of the house where the man lived, rendered him helpless with drugs known as “poppers,” and then raped him.

“It just ruined my life,” the man said. “I couldn’t handle it; I was angry, I drank too much. I wasn’t able to make rational decisions or deal with things. It got to the point where it ruined my life.”

O’Keefe was also convicted of sexually touching a second juvenile.

(Image: Newsquest)

In April, police convinced a court to issue a sexual abuse order against O’Keefe, prohibiting him from being in the company of single men.

Cumbria Police applied for the order after it emerged that O’Keefe had been a suspect in several rape investigations.

In issuing the order, the district judge stated: “The defendant has demonstrated a propensity over many years to specifically target and sexually abuse vulnerable men.”