Grace Millane murderer found guilty of raping another British tourist on Tinder date

He has also been convicted of multiple offences inflicted on his ex-girlfriend

3 years ago

The man found guilty of murdering Grace Millane has now been convicted of sexual offences committed against two more women, including the rape of another British backpacker whom he met via a Tinder date eight months before Grace Millane.

28-year-old Jesse Kempson, who can now be named for the first time since the trial regarding Grace Millane’s death, has been found guilty in two additional trials in the past three months.

As well as being found guilty of raping another British tourist he was found guilty for multiple offences committed against his ex-partner, including sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, threatening to kill and assault with a weapon.

The British tourist, who remains anonymous, was raped by Kempson eight months before he murdered Grace Millane. She told the court: “I was just frozen and I let him do what he needed to do so I could try and go to sleep or go home as soon as possible.”

He has been convicted of nine additonal offences in total and will serve a further 11 years for these crimes, after his jail term for the murder of Grace Millane is complete.

Jesse Kempson was found guilty of murdering 22-year-old Grace Millane in November 2019, and jailed in February for at least 17 years. Kempson and Millane met through Tinder and arranged to go on a date. After the date, the two returned to a hotel where Kempson murdered her, eventually disposing her body in a woodland hours later.

Following final court proceedings, anonymity granted to Mr Kempson has now been lifted

Despite appealing his conviction this year, the court found it against him and said his sentence was not “manifestly unjust” considering his crime.

Justices Stephen Kos, Mark Cooper and Patricia Courtney said the murder of Grace Millane was “committed with a high degree of callousness” and that he failed “to call for assistance, searching on the internet for methods of body disposal … taking steps preparatory to disposing of the body and going on another date while Ms Millane’s body remained in his room.”

In a statement given to Auckland police, Grace Millane’s family thanked the police service and prosecutors as well as the people of New Zealand. They said: “Grace was a kind, fun-loving daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, aunty, cousin and friend with her whole life ahead of her.

“She was enjoying the first of what would have been a lifetime of adventures before her life was so cruelly and brutally cut short by her murderer.

“Her sense of fun, her sense of adventure, her love of travel and exploring, along with her ability to light up any room she walked into it with her generosity of spirit, are memories we as a family cherish and how we will forever remember her.”