Gregory Willis was sentenced to 14 years in jail after he was caught with his pants down inside the house that he was trespassed, the Daily Mail reports.
Willis tried to rape a woman who’s not only 94 years old, but is also blind and deaf. Willis apparently burglarized the elderly woman’s home in the middle of the night.
He was caught by the elderly woman’s family kneeling on the bed with no pants on. The woman was already unclothed. Her lower night pants were removed.
Judge John Pini QC said that Willis’ crime and the entire situation as one of the most “deeply shocking, horrifying, and appalling as could possibly be imagined.”
Judge Pini said, “The victim is 94 years of age. She had not long before this left a nursing home to be cared for in a safe, loving environment for the remaining time of her life.”
He continued, “She was registered blind, hard of hearing, had no short-term memory, had poor balance and was doubly incontinent. She could not communicate. She was as frail and vulnerable as it is possible to be.”
Willis’ victim was obviously very frail. After she suffered a fall, the woman had since been bedridden on a hospital trolley in the front room of her son-in-law’s house. The son-in-law told Daily Mail that he was “shocked and stunned that somebody could intend on doing such a thing.”
According to court documents, Willis was drunk when he burglarized the home, which was located on a middle class residential estate at 12:30 AM.
The elderly woman was a former medical secretary and wartime Wren. Willis, who’s a father of five children, went inside the house while the family was having a gathering in another room. The whole incident happened last August.
The prosecutor said, “The victim was in bed, the covers had been pulled back and her pajama bottoms had been pulled off. Had he not been disturbed, as mercifully he was, he was going to rape that 94 years old lady in that bed.”
After he was expelled of the house in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Willis, who’s only 26 years old, still returned to the property.
Police officers arrived and arrested Willis. He was charged with theft, burglary, criminal damage, take a motor vehicle without consent, and possession of an offensive weapon.
Willis initially denied that he attempted to rape the woman. However, he was found guilty of the act anyway. He admitted to burglary, though. Willis was on bail for another crime he committed a year ago when he was arrested last August.
Mark Watson, barrister for Willis, said, “He was plainly under the influence of something. There is nothing about the offence that he can remember. It may be due to alcohol but it may be that he is unable to bring himself to believe what happened.”
The elderly woman’s son-in-law said, “She was a very frail person asleep in bed who had already entered the end of life phase - she didn’t talk very much and although we could take her out in a wheelchair it was becoming increasingly difficult.
“We don’t know how much of what happened registered with her - we deliberately didn’t raise it with her afterwards and we just have to hope she didn’t suffer in any way.
“We didn’t think it appropriate to put her through the ordeal of a medical examination. I was the only adult male in the house at the time and when I confronted him the adrenaline took over and I didn’t initially appreciate what was happening.
“Thankfully he ran away without becoming violent and it was only later that the gravity of what he was about to do hit me. No, I just want to eradicate that night from my mind - at least while he is in prison.”
The woman, who had four great-grandchildren, was put in respite care at a local care home following the tragic incident.
The woman passed away four months after the incident. Willis’ sexual assault had no connections to the cause of her death. The woman had two children and two grandchildren. She lost her husband 20 years ago. According to Daily Mail, he was a member of the Royal Navy and later worked as an insurance assessor.
