How Sarah Lewis seduced married men and destroyed livesÂ
As a modern day morality tale, the saga of Sarah Lewis takes some beating. For while the world of online dating offers ample scope for drama, generally the worst that can happen is a drink with someone who looks nothing like their profile picture. Excuses and rapid exits are made and lessons learned.
But it does not always end like that â€" as the five high-flying men who crossed paths with 49-year-old Lewis, only to find themselves embroiled in a situation worthy of the film Fatal Attraction, would discover to their cost.
It goes without saying, of course, that none of those involved in this sorry episode emerges with much credit.
A mother of two, having temporarily split from her doctor husband last year, Lewis posted profiles under assumed name s on a number of dating websites.
Pictured above: Stalker mother Sarah Lewis and husband Andrew relaxing in a JacuzziÂ
‘Scarlet’, as she was known, clearly was not shy about what she was after, listing herself on one website as a ‘cougar’â€" a word used to describe women looking for sex with younger men.
And find them the blonde former nurse certainly did. But what many will find deeply depressing is the type of man who answered her call.
All five claimed to be single but were married, the majority were parents, and all were living outwardly extremely respectable lives.
Lewis clearly had something of a thing for men in uniform. They included two high-ranking soldiers, a member of the Royal Navy and an airman. The fifth was in the fire brigade.
And these weren’t just lowly squaddies. The Daily Mail can reveal that they included officers from both the Army and the Navy, men whose service had seen them lauded for bravery and whose official duties brought them into contact with members of the Royal Family.
But nothing could have prepared them for their experience with Lewis. Following their encounters she would harass not only the men, but their families, too.
On one occasion she cried rape. On another she pretended she had become pregnant while also claiming to have caught a sexually transmitted infection.
One man was so distressed he was pushed to the brink of suicide after Lewis threatened to show his wife a naked picture of him.
Appearing in court last week having admitted five counts of stalking and one count of ‘revenge porn’, Lewis was handed a suspended prison sentence. It was claimed she was suffering from a personality disorder, had low self-estee m and had only ‘wanted to be loved’.
Given the carnage of broken marriages and blighted careers she left behind, her victims have little sympathy for her.
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ the wife of one of those involved told me last week, ‘my husband was a plonker, a complete plonker for what he did.
Sarah Lewis, 49, 'preyed' on men using an Ashley Madison-style adultery website before meeting them in hotel rooms for sex
‘But she has really got away with this one. I have still got some of the text messages she sent to me and, believe me, they are absolutely despicable. I can’t believe she is going to escape a jail sentence despite wreaking all this havoc.’
For romantic souls looking for lasting love, the saucydating.com website might not be the obvious starting point.
Boasting more than four million active members worldwide, it pulls no punches in what it offers.
‘We connect people seeking sex, without the complication of a long-term relationship,’ its website states. ‘Some of our members are married men and women seeking a quick casual-sex date. Others are single men and women, who just prefer th e freedom of no-strings-attached sex.’
Lewis posted on this site and another called Plenty of Fish, using various aliases rather than her real name. Given her background, that was perhaps unsurprising.
Her 56-year-old husband Andrew is a respected doctor who works at a children’s hospital in Birmingham. The couple have been married for 25 years, have two grown-up daughters and a grandchild and live in a four-bedroom, detached property in a cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Worcester.
Neighbours describe the family as ‘lovely’ and add that Lewis was a ‘glam’ woman who took care of her appearance. Photographs on Facebook show her reclining in a black swimsuit in a hot tub with her husband, glass of champagne in hand, and holidaying in the sun.
While it is unknown what profile or photos she posted on the various websites, they clearly appealed to a certain type of man. All those who were to come into contact with her were younger than her, the youngest being in his mid-30s.
Lewis admitted five counts of harassment by stalking and one count of disclosing private sexual photographs or 'revenge porn'
While their identities are all known to this newspaper, the Mail has chosen not to name them.
Lewis’s first assignation involved a married officer from an infantry regiment that performed certain ceremonial duties during the wedding of Prince William and Kate.
Having met for sex in a hotel in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in June last year, the following month Lewis threatened to tell the soldier’s wife about his infidelity. He also received messages that appeared to be from friends of Lewis, but were really from her.
Worcester Crown Court was told that, as a result, the man felt ‘pressured’ to meet her for a second time at a hotel in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on July 23. The follow ing morning he found her photographing his car. This, she told him, would be her ‘ace card’.
The man’s daughter subsequently found messages from Lewis on his mobile phone. When the girl told her to stay away from her father she replied: ‘Your dad is a sex pest.’
Lewis, of Worcester, admitted five counts of harassment by stalking and one count of disclosing private sexual photographs or 'revenge porn' at Worcester Crown Court (pictured)Â
On August 15 Lewis sent intimate pictures of the man to his wife and set up an online profile using the same photos, calling him a rapist.
The court heard that the man was so depressed by what had happened that he had ‘contemplated suicide by walking onto some train tracks’.
In December, she had her eyes on another married man, this time a decorated officer in the Royal Navy.
Having joined a website looking for casual sex, he happened upon Lewis. It is understood that although he decided not to meet her, she began to stalk him and his wife.
She branded him a ‘disgusting father’ and threatened to dis close intimate details about their conversations. The officer’s marriage has since broken up.
The same month she met a third man for sex, an ex-member of the RAF. Having arranged to meet in a Gloucestershire pub, they instead went to a flat in Worcester in which she was then living. Afterwards Lewis claimed she felt sick.
When the man tried to go home, she told him: ‘If you leave, I’m going to tell them you raped me.’
The man later blocked her number only for her to immediately call him back on another phone, demanding he unblock her and calling him a ‘rapist psycho’.
She added that she now ‘controlled’ him. The court heard that the married man also contemplated suicide.
In January, using the name Scarlet and posting on saucy dating.com, she met up with a fireman from the West Country.
Intimate photos were exchanged, including one of the man in his uniform. Although they did not meet, she threatened to set up a Facebook profile using the pictures of him in his uniform and to inform his boss. The man pleaded with her not to, knowing he would be immediately dismissed.
She also claimed he had touched her daughter’s bottom at a fete, even though they had never met. As a result of the fallout from the incident, it is understood that the man is no longer working as a fireman.
The fifth and final man was another well-regarded soldier. As well as having seen action in Afghanistan, in the past he, too, has also undertaken a number of ceremonial duties that have brought him into contact with members of the Royal Family.
Lewis contacted the man’s wife claiming she was pregnant and that the woman’s husband had given her a sexually transmitted disease. Last we ek, this wife told the Mail that the messages were ‘vile’ and ‘despicable’ and said she and her husband were now working to save their marriage.
‘We’re rebuilding our lives,’ she said, adding that she had been too upset by what had happened to even give a statement to the police.
Lewis, she said, deserved to face the full force of the law for what she had done.
And so to Worcester Crown Court late last month, where she appeared via video-link, having been held on remand for two months at HMP Eastwood Park.
Pictured: The saucydating.com website where Lewis first spoke to the menÂ
After she had admitted five counts of harassment by stalking and one count of disclosing private sexual photographs, or ‘revenge porn’, at an earlier hearing, the court heard that Lewis had previous convictions for harassment in 2002 and 2003 and another for sending an article that was grossly offensive or indecent in 2014.
It is unclear what specifically those earlier offences relate to.
Belinda Ariss, defending, said Lewis had a personality disorder.
‘She is deeply ashamed and sorry for the harassment she caused to these men and their families,’ she said. ‘She has had, for many years, low self-esteem and simply wanted to be loved.’
Lewis was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two ye ars, and ordered to complete 15 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement.
She was also given a two-year mental health treatment order as well as a restraining order in relation to the 11 victims affected, including the men, their wives, and the child, which will last for ten years.
‘Your behaviour could be described as unpleasant, predatory and threatening,’ Judge Nicholas Cartwright told her. ‘You used a man’s daughter as a pawn in this process, telling her that her dad was a sex pest. You did that in order to get at him.
‘In relation to the impact on the victims, it was profound in each case. If you were to do anything like this again, you could expect to receive a very substantial custodial sentence. You have been given a chance. You should take it.’
Speaking after the case, Lewis made it clear that she did not believe the fault lay solely with her.
‘I’m just a normal housewife who is going through a very traumatic time and on these social networking sites people are not what they say they are,’ she said. ‘They all said they were single, all on national dating websites.’
The incident, she added, had ‘destroyed’ her life. But, in stark contrast to the impact it has had on the lives of at least one of her victims, it seems it has not destroyed her marriage. The opposite in fact.
Referring to her husband, she said: ‘We were going through a period of trial separation. We were on a break, but it’s made us stronger than ever. It’s got us closer together.’
A very unexpected twist â€" at the end of a very sorry tale. Â
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