A predatory landlord who demanded sexual favours from young female tenants in return for reduced rent has been jailed for two-and-a-half years – after being caught on camera during a Mail investigation.
Frederick Allard, 73, preyed on three ‘vulnerable women’ over a four-year period, a court heard – asking them to perform sex acts if they wanted cheaper accommodation in his six-bedroom home in Tidworth, Wiltshire.
He was previously exposed by a Mail investigation – filmed asking an undercover reporter posing as a 21-year-old student to pay her rent with sexual favours.
He demanded naked and weekly massages in exchange for accommodation, telling her: ‘Nothing is for nothing in this life.’
Wiltshire Police then announced in January 2021 its own investigation into Allard over ‘voyeurism and prostitution offences’.
A court has now heard how Allard – seen appearing to smirk in his police mugshot after being arrested – told one teenage tenant she should always ‘be prepared to do whatever I ask’.
When she resisted, he told her: ‘If you don’t want the room, that’s okay.’
The pervert demanded one tenant perform oral sex for him in order to stay and a search of his devices found an extensive pornography collection including videos showing ‘exploitative sex between landlords and their tenants’.
He had advertised the accommodation in his £270,000 property on the Spareroom website and only rented to women, his trial at Salisbury Crown Court heard.
Allard has now been jailed for 30 months and put on the sexual register for a decade, for the offences found to have taken place between February 2019 and January and involving three women.
Judge R Taylor told him: ‘You sought to extract sexual favours from them in return for a room.’
The court heard how one 20-year-old victim ‘had to leave her home’ in 2019 so sent Allard a message on Spareroom.
He invited the young women over to the property and it was here he told her he ‘expected her to do certain things’ in order to rent the room.
The judge said: ‘She did not know how to respond – just that she needed to get out of the situation as soon as possible. She ran to her car and drove away.’
The women then told her mother and reported the matter to the police.
The second victim, aged 19, also desperately needed somewhere to live and was informed about the spare room on a Tesco noticeboard.
The court heard how on each of her visits, Allard ‘covertly recorded’ her – including one occasion in 2020 when he filmed himself sexually assaulting the teenager.
He took her up to his bedroom, sat on the bed and asked her to sit down next to him.
When she refused, her picked her up and placed her on his lap before molesting her – after telling her he ‘loved giving girls massages’.
She fled the room and asked Allard why he ‘tried to take my hoodie off’, prompting his response: ‘If you don’t want the room that’s okay’.
When she later said she did want to rent the room, he sent her a message saying: ”Okay, but you will have to try harder than that girl – I’m going out my way for you.’
When she told the pensioner she was ‘confused’, he responded: ‘I think you know what you have to do for me without me saying so.
‘It’s up to you – how bad do you want the room? The next time you come over be prepared to do whatever I ask.’
The judge said the impact of Allard’s behaviour on the teenager was ‘really awful’, adding: ‘She finds men intimidating, she struggles with intimacy.
The third victim, who stayed in the property in 2021, received sexually explicit texts from him within a day of meeting – demanding she give him oral sex.
The judge told the defendant: ‘You reckoned by the end of the month she would be desperate and sleep with you because she needed somewhere to live.
‘The victims here just wanted and needed somewhere to live. You sought to extract sexual favours from them in return for a room.’
Allard pleaded not guilty to three counts of causing or inciting prostitution for gain and sexual assault but was convicted at his trial in May this year.
Complex Crime Investigator Elly Moxom, from Wiltshire Police, said: ‘Allard’s actions had a significant impact on the female victims who all showed bravery and resilience throughout the investigation and trial.
‘Wiltshire Police wish to send a strong message to those who perpetrate harm to women and girls.
‘We will show zero tolerance to crimes like those committed by Mr Allard who sought to exploit perceived vulnerabilities in his victims for sexual gratification.’
Allard was among those identified by a Mail investigation finding how thousands of women were being exploited in a ‘sex for rent’ scandal exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 20 men contacted by undercover reporters posing as a 21-year-old student offered free accommodation in exchange for sexual acts.
Allard, who claimed to be 50 despite being 70 at the time, had posted an advert for a ‘free room’ for a ‘single attractive young female’ on the US website Craigslist in October.
An undercover reporter responded to the advert posing as a student.
Allard immediately requested a picture of the reporter, before texting: ‘You do understand the room’s not completely free, I would be expecting something off you in return.’
Asked what he meant, he said: ‘It’s a good deal, no bills or deposit or rent… ime sure your not shy what you offering.’
The reporter sent a picture of her face, but he requested more photographs, asking her to send ‘a nice picture of yourself as if you interested’.
He said he was seeking a ‘weekly arrangement’, adding: ‘I like giving massages and pleasuring a woman. Anything else would be nice. What are you prepaired to do for me?’
Allard then told her he expected to give and receive erotic massages ‘with a little bit of friendliness and a little bit of touching’ in exchange for the room at his home.