Two men raped vulnerable teenage girls in Rotherham, keeping them intoxicated and treating them as “fresh meat”

Two men who raped and exploited teenage girls in Rotherham—referring to them as “fresh meat”—have been convicted following a harrowing trial.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that the men groomed the victims, plying them with alcohol and cigarettes before subjecting them to relentless sexual abuse over six months. The girls, who were in a children’s home at the time, were powerless against the older predators who manipulated them into believing they owed sex as payment for drinks and attention.

Romulad Stefan Houphouet, 37, and Absolom Sigiyo, 41, were found guilty of multiple sexual offences, including rape. A third man, Jacek Brzozowski, 35, was acquitted of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity but admitted to penetrative sex with a child.

Groomed, Trapped, and Repeatedly Raped

Prosecutor Gordon Stables described how the men deliberately sought out vulnerable girls, showering them with flirtatious attention and intoxicating them at house parties.

“Both girls became conditioned to having regular sexual intercourse… the clear premeditated intention was to ensure that the girls entered into and remained in a state of compliance,” he told the jury.

Once the girls had been used, the men discarded them, often leaving them to find their own way home.

“They were sexually groomed within an environment of dependency,” Stables explained. “The men referred to them as ‘fresh meat’—a chilling reminder of how little they valued these girls as human beings.”

A Legacy of Abuse in Rotherham

The convictions are part of Operation Stovewood, the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation into Rotherham’s child sexual exploitation scandal. More than 1,100 victims have been identified, many of whom suffered horrific abuse between 1997 and 2013.

Senior investigating officer Kath Blain called the case one of the most appalling she had ever encountered.

“Sigiyo and Houphouet lured two vulnerable girls to parties where they kept the children intoxicated so they could abuse them in the worst ways,” she said.

“Brzozowski contributed to their suffering, including by having sex with one of the girls who he knew was a child and vulnerable. The victims have shown extraordinary bravery in reporting their abuse.”

The Fight for Justice Continues

The case follows the 2014 Jay Report, which exposed how hundreds of girls in Rotherham were systematically abused by organised gangs, with authorities failing to intervene.

Martin McRobb, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, praised the victims for their courage.

“The victims in this case are now adults, but they have had to live with the trauma caused by the vile and serious sexual offences committed against them in their youth,” he said.

Houphouet, an Ivorian national from Sheffield, and Sigiyo, a Zimbabwean national from Rotherham, are due to be sentenced on Wednesday. Brzozowski, a Polish national, has been bailed ahead of his sentencing on 14 April.

As more victims come forward, Operation Stovewood continues to uncover the full scale of Rotherham’s child abuse horror.