The BBC are due to broadcast a documentary featuring exclusive access to the policing team responsible for the successful conviction of serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga.
Catching a Predator, to be broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm on Wednesday 6 October 2021, tells the inside story of GMP’s Operation Island – which culminated in Sinaga being sentenced to 40 years in jail after being found guilty of committing 159 counts of sexual offences against 48 different men.
From his flat on Princess Street, Manchester, mature student Reynhard Sinaga would target lone men who’d been on a night out and invite them into his home, with the offer of somewhere to have a drink or to call a taxi.
But instead, once they were inside, he would drug, assault and rape them, recording the attacks and collecting personal belongings as ‘trophies’ from his victims.
Investigators found evidence of more than 200 victims, and many had no recollection of being abused until a police officer knocked on their door to tell them they’d been attacked and filmed. Some of these men still have not been identified. He had been offending for a decade.
As evidence of the horrific scale of Sinaga’s offending was uncovered, this film tells the detailed inside story of how detectives pieced together an unprecedented prosecution.
And one of Sinaga’s victims, speaking in the film for the very first time, waves his right to anonymity to break the silence that surrounds male rape. His powerful testimony contributes to an important national conversation in the UK, where sexual violence against men remains one of the most underreported crimes.
GMP continue to urge people who believe they may have been a victim of Sinaga to come forward and, ahead of the broadcast, are reissuing details on how to contact police and access support services.
All reports made to police will be fully investigated. Greater Manchester is nationally recognised as a model of good practice in terms of support services available to victims.
155 reports were received following a public appeal launched in January 2020 following the last of Sinaga’s four trials at Manchester Crown Court, 23 of the 155 were confirmed as potential victims of Sinaga.
Of the 23 identified, 12 were previously recorded by the investigation as ‘unidentified victims’. This was because footage or images of an offence was held by the investigation, obtained from devices recovered, but research completed could not identify the victim in the footage.
No further charges will be brought in respect of 23 further victims identified by the appeal, as those concerned do not wish to support a prosecution and are satisfied with the convictions and sentence already secured.
The total number of male victims of Sinaga is believed to be 206.
Around 60 victims remain unidentified.
