Woman abused by rapist Sex Education actor boyfriend ‘nonetheless has nightmares’

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Rogan Taylor bravely waived her right to anonymity and shared the horrors she endured at the hands of her then-boyfriend Alexander Westwood

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A woman who was sexually abused by her tv star boyfriend as a teenager has revealed she “still has nightmares” about the “disgusting monster”.

Rogan Taylor, who bravely waived her right to anonymity, said she began dating Alexander Westwood in November 2018, when she was 17, after he messaged her on social media. At beginning of the relationship, Westwood showered her with gifts and they moved in together after just 10 months of dating.

By 2021, she said Westwood began sexually abusing her by penetrating her with his fingers, despite her “clearly” saying no, biting him and pushing him away. The relationship ended in 2022 and she reported the abuse in 2023 after realising it was “not normal”.

The case, including four other victims, went to Wolverhampton Crown Court in November 2024. Westwood was found guilty of sexual offences against five victims – a girl whose abuse began when she was six, a boy aged between nine and 10, two teenage girls who had come to him for acting tuition, and Rogan.

Westwood, who had minor roles in BBC’s Doctors and Netflix’s Sex Education, was jailed for 15 years, with Rogan believing it should have been more.

Rogan, now a 24-year-old university student who lives in the Midlands, said: “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.

“In court, I said: ‘You ruined my life, for the rest of my life, you’ve traumatised me for life’.

“I take sleep medication because I still have nightmares… he’s a disgusting monster.”

Rogan said she first met Westwood in 2018 when she was 17 and studying for her A-levels.

She said Westwood, who was 18 at the time, messaged her on social media, “hitting on” her – they shared no mutual friends and he lived a few hours away in Shropshire.

After exchanging messages for a few weeks, Rogan said they went on a date and became a couple in November that year.

Rogan said Westwood almost immediately bought her tickets to a theatre show in London, which she now believes was part of “love bombing” as he was doing “extreme romantic gestures” to manipulate her later.

Rogan said: “I had only had one boyfriend before by this point, and I didn’t understand why people liked me. It was so exciting for me to have a boyfriend that was so interested in me and doing all these things for me.”

She said the relationship initially appeared to be going well, with the pair visiting each other at weekends, although there were occasional arguments.

Rogan said that in 2021 Westwood began shouting at her almost every day and would hit her over the head with a game controller if he lost a game.

Over time, Rogan said, she began suffering panic attacks and felt “trapped in the relationship” because they lived together and Westwood was “so close” to her family.

She said: “The fear I was experiencing was so visceral, and it’s so damaging. It became like malicious compliance – if I asked him to do dishes, he’d wash them in the shower.”

Rogan said that around the same time Westwood began sexually abusing her.

She explained that he would “initiate sex” and Rogan “would clearly say no”, but Westwood would “put his fingers inside me, and I’d try to push him away and I used to bite him when he was restraining me”.

“it’s like you’re not even a person who’s allowed to consent,” she added.

Rogan said she attempted suicide and began self-harming in 2021 because of the abuse. “I just wanted things to stop. I felt like he was controlling me,” she said.

In November 2024, the court heard that Westwood’s offending began when he was ten years old, when he sexually abused a six-year-old.

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said this led to years of “the normalisation of sexual abuse”. He encouraged a young boy to touch himself as part of a “game” when he was 10 and Westwood was 18.

Westwood also abused two teenage girls who had come to him for acting lessons. The court heard he was “highly manipulative and controlling” to Rogan who he held down “every few weeks”, and told her to lay there despite telling him she did not want to have sex.

Westwood smirked in the dock at Wolverhampton Crown Court as details of his offending were read out.

After seeing other complainants give evidence, Rogan decided to do the same.

“I was gobsmacked – I didn’t realise the ages of some of the victims,” she said. “It was a really long cross-examination. I cried a lot on the stand. It was really upsetting. I was scared of him being found guilty and trying to contact me.”

However, she felt “supported” throughout as she and the other victims made a group chat during the trial.

She said: “I’d message and say I was having nightmares, and we’d talk about how we’re all suffering.”

Westwood denied the allegations against him but was convicted of 26 sexual offences.

Jailing Westwood for 15-and-a-half years, Judge Neil Chawla KC said he would have to serve at least two-thirds of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole and would then remain on licence for four years.

If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website, http://www.victimsupport.org.uk.