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Justice / child sexual exploitation / Operation Stovewood

Romauld Houphouet

Violent crime and serial killers

Documented profile covering 10 controversies, including “2011: contact with two 15-year-old girls living in a local authority children's home” and “2011: rape of one victim in an alley minutes after their first meeting”.

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Profile No. 1298 · Updated on 25 September 2026

10Documented controversies
4Sources
1Formal charge · all time1 followed by a conviction
1Conviction

§ Legal statuses reflect the documented sources as of the date shown; they replace neither court decisions nor the presumption of innocence. Counts are not a rating. Methodology

I. Documented controversies

Case · 10 documented stages

3 March 2025: convicted of four counts of rape

Conviction
01

2025-03-03

3 March 2025: convicted of four counts of rape

Conviction

Following a five-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court, Romauld Stefan Houphouet was found guilty of four counts of rape.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    Crown Prosecution ServiceOperation Stovewood: Men convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in RotherhamProsecutor's statementVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

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02

2025-03-03

3 March 2025: convicted of one count of sexual assault

Conviction

Houphouet was also found guilty of a separate count of sexual assault.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 1

  1. [1]
    Crown Prosecution ServiceOperation Stovewood: Men convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in RotherhamProsecutor's statementVery high reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

03

2025-03-05

5 March 2025: sentenced to 20 years in prison

Conviction

Judge Sarah Wright sentenced Houphouet to 20 years' imprisonment, emphasising the planned grooming, the victims' extreme vulnerability and the serious psychological harm.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    ITV News CalendarOperation Stovewood: Pair who treated vulnerable Rotherham girls as 'fresh meat' jailedPressHigh reliability
  2. [2]
    St John's BuildingsR v Absolom Sigiyo, Romulad Houphouet & Jacek BrzozwskiHigh reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

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04

2022-11

November 2022: charged with sexual offences in Operation Stovewood

Formally charged

Houphouet and Brzozowski were charged with sexual offences in November 2022 as part of Operation Stovewood, alongside the case involving Sigiyo.

State of the evidence
Documented
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 1

  1. [1]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

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05

2011–2012

2011–2012: taking both teenage girls to a house and introducing them to Sigiyo and other men

Conviction

Following the first meeting, Houphouet took both girls to a house in Rotherham and introduced them to Absolom Sigiyo and other men present.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Personally implicated

Sources · 1

  1. [1]
    ITV News CalendarOperation Stovewood: Pair who treated vulnerable Rotherham girls as 'fresh meat' jailedPressHigh reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

06

2011–2012

2011–2012: grooming through alcohol, cigarettes, taxis and parties to keep teenage girls intoxicated and sexually available

Conviction

Houphouet and Sigiyo lured the teenage girls to parties where they were given alcohol and cigarettes and kept in a condition that facilitated their sexual exploitation.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    Crown Prosecution ServiceOperation Stovewood: Men convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in RotherhamProsecutor's statementVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

07

2011–2012

2011–2012: repeated rapes of both victims at parties over several months

Conviction

Houphouet was established as having raped both girls repeatedly during the period of exploitation. The victims described repeated assaults several times a week within this network of parties.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 3

  1. [1]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Crown Prosecution ServiceOperation Stovewood: Men convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in RotherhamProsecutor's statementVery high reliability
  3. [3]
    St John's BuildingsR v Absolom Sigiyo, Romulad Houphouet & Jacek BrzozwskiHigh reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

08

2011–2012

2011–2012: violent retaliatory rape after finding victim with his tenant

Conviction

During a party, Houphouet found one of the teenage girls with his tenant Jacek Brzozowski, became furious, drove him away and then violently raped the girl in retaliation. The judge considered that his behaviour demonstrated that he regarded her as his property.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    ITV News CalendarOperation Stovewood: Pair who treated vulnerable Rotherham girls as 'fresh meat' jailedPressHigh reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

09

2011

2011: contact with two 15-year-old girls living in a local authority children's home

Conviction

Houphouet met two extremely vulnerable 15-year-old girls, both residents of a children's home in Rotherham.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    Crown Prosecution ServiceOperation Stovewood: Men convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in RotherhamProsecutor's statementVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

10

2011

2011: rape of one victim in an alley minutes after their first meeting

Conviction

Prosecutors established that the abuse began minutes after the first meeting: Houphouet raped one of the teenage girls in an alley in Rotherham that same evening.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    National Crime AgencyOperation Stovewood: Men found guilty of raping girls at partiesOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    ITV News CalendarOperation Stovewood: Pair who treated vulnerable Rotherham girls as 'fresh meat' jailedPressHigh reliability

Last verified: 10 September 2026

Add to this entry

II. Constellation of documented links

  • Linked profile (portrait or initials) — click to open it
  • Line width: number of documented references
  • Hover over or tap a line: controversies and sources

Two profiles are linked when a documented controversy of one names the other. The link points to that controversy and its sources; it does not indicate a personal relationship.

List of documented links (2)
  1. Absolom Sigiyo1 documented reference
  2. Jacek Brzozowski1 documented reference

III. Has something changed?

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