FORMER Tory MP Charlie Elphicke has been jailed for two years after being found guilty of sexual assaults.
Elphicke, the Dover MP from 2010 until 2019, was convicted of three counts of sexual assault, against two women, between 2007 and 2016 following a trial in July.
The complainants, who did not know one another and were both younger than Elphicke, each described how Elphicke referred to himself as "naughty" after assaulting them.
Justice Whipple told Elphicke the first victim suffered a "terrifying episode" when he chased her around his home chanting "I'm a naughty Tory" after assaulting her.
The judge said of the two offences against the second victim, a Parliamentary worker: "This was a campaign of harassment, it required planning to get her alone with you.”
She added: “Both women described similar and shocking allegations on them. You're a sexual predator who used your success and respectability as a cover."
"You made your victims come to court. They told the truth, and you told a pack of lies – not only to the jury, but your wife, the whips and the police."
The former MP was also ordered to pay £35,000 in costs.
Elphicke's wife Natalie, who succeeded her husband as Dover MP after he was charged, announced she had ended their 25-year marriage less than an hour after his conviction.
But she branded the sentence "excessive".
"I fully support Charlie in his appeal against both his convictions and today's excessive sentence," she said. "There is no doubt that Charlie behaved badly. However, everyone, Charlie included, has the right to a fair trial, and I don't believe that he has had one."
One of former Elphicke's victims welcomed his sexual assault convictions, saying: "I feel heard."
The woman, who had been invited to have a drink with Elphicke at his London family home in 2007 when he groped her, also described how the ordeal had a "lasting impact" on her ability to trust men.
Prosecutor Eloise Marshall QC read a statement from the woman, who was in her early 30s at the time and said Elphicke chanted "I'm a naughty Tory" moments after the assault.
She described the effect of what Elphicke did"significantly increased sense of caution" when coming into contact with men she did not know.
The woman, who cannot be identified, stated: "The logical part of my brain is telling me to be polite to them but the emotional side is making me stressed."
Marshall continued: "Even to the extent that when the (police) officers came to take an account from her, she found it difficult to be alone with them. She says she avoided being alone with men in general."
The statement added: "It took me a long time to get back on my feet (following the assault)."
Concluding with her thoughts on the verdict, the woman said: "I feel heard. Thank you."
The second victim, a former parliamentary worker in her 20s who was assaulted twice in 2016, said in her impact statement: "I still remember how he made me feel, I still know those feelings of fear and helplessness. I do believe as a result of what happened it changed how I perceive myself.
"Because of his acts, he stole a large part of my self-worth and self-esteem."
Marshall said Elphicke "affected her dreams", with the victim – who also cannot be identified – adding: "My inner scars will always be there."
The court heard she felt forced to quit her "dream job" in Parliament some months after the assaults.
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