Rogan Taylor, a survivor of several years of abuse at the hands of Alexander Westwood, has said his sentence is 'not enough'. The actor, who appeared in Sex Education and Doctors, was sentenced in February 2025 to 15 years in jail after being convicted of 26 crimes against children. This included sexual assault of a boy under 10 years old and two teenage pupils who he had tutored in acting lessons, one of whom he raped on at least three occasions.
Survivor speaks out
Taylor, now 24, who waived her right to anonymity, began dating Westwood when she was 17 after he messaged her in November 2018. She said he would 'love bomb' her and shower her with gifts at the start, almost immediately buying West End theatre tickets in a string of 'extreme romantic gestures'. The then A-Level student later found out he had four other victims, describing him as a 'disgusting monster', sharing that she 'still has nightmares'.
She said by 2021, Westwood, now 25, began sexually abusing her, penetrating her with his fingers despite her 'clearly' saying no. She said she had to resort to biting him and pushing him away as he restrained her and told her to 'lie there'. Their relationship ended the next year.
Impact on daily life
'It's an experience that can never go away, I was scared for ages that it might happen again, I was scared I'd marry someone and they'd turn out to be an abuser,' she told PA. 'In court, I said: "You ruined my life, for the rest of my life, you've traumatised me for life."' Taylor added: 'I take sleep medication because I still have nightmares…he's a disgusting monster.'
They moved in together after just 10 months of dating, shortly after she turned 18, with Westwood surprising her with a puppy. 'We were arguing a bit about him not doing his fair share of the chores. He was being messy and inconsiderate,' she added. Taylor explained how he would do chores but use 'malicious compliance' such as washing dishes in the shower.
Abuse escalation
On one occasion, the pair had been at a train station where he 'screamed and shouted' at her, to the point the police were called but she declined to press charges. The verbal abuse became an almost daily occurrence, and he would also hit her over the head with his game controller if he lost. Taylor began suffering from panic attacks and tried to take her own life, as well as self-harming, over the abuse.
'The fear I was experiencing was so visceral, and it's so damaging,' she said. 'It's like you're not even a person who's allowed to consent.' She didn't speak out as she felt 'trapped in the relationship' because he was 'so close' to her family.
Ending the relationship and reporting
Then in 2022, she ended the relationship after discovering there were allegations from another victim, calling him a 'master manipulator'. When she began a new relationship in 2023, her partner told her those experiences were 'not normal' and 'illegal', which prompted her to report Westwood to the police. After coming forward and posting about her abuse on social media, Taylor was subjected to a torrent of trolling from strangers.
The following year, police reached out to say they were building a case, with Taylor sharing she was 'gobsmacked' by the ages of some of the victims. Westwood was said to have shown no remorse and smirked in the dock at Wolverhampton Crown Court, with Taylor saying she 'cried a lot' during her cross-examination.
Court details and sentence
The court heard abuse against his first victim started when she was just six years old and he was 10, with prosecutor Andrew Wallace saying it led to years of 'the normalisation of sexual abuse' which included touching her breasts and himself and making her watch pornography. Westwood also encouraged a 10-year-old boy to touch himself as part of a 'game' when he was 18.
Ordering Westwood to serve at least two-thirds of his 15-and-a-half-year term in prison before he is eligible for parole, Judge Chawla also said he must spend four years on licence. He was also handed a 26-year restraining order preventing him from contacting the five victims, and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
Ongoing trauma and advocacy
'I still can't believe something like this happened to me. I was with a serial rapist and abuser,' she said. Looking back on her experience, she wishes she had evidence of the abuse to help her cross-examination in court. She thinks self-test DNA kits, such as those created by non-profit organisation Enough, which in principle can be used as evidence in court, are a step in the right direction.
She said: 'Being able to provide evidence is such a huge thing, because with abuse, it can make you feel like nobody's ever going to believe you.'
