A former NHS mental health nurse and priest has been jailed for raping a woman he met on a dating app – and is being investigated over further alleged sexual offending, The Independent can reveal.
John Chukwunonso Iwuh, 54, of South Norwood, Croydon, used his job as a nurse to gain the trust of the victim, aged in her 40s, before luring her to his home and raping her after she rejected his advances in June 2022.
Croydon Crown Court heard the victim went to the toilet and when she came out, Iwuh pushed her into the bedroom where he raped her and videoed the ordeal on his phone.
During their investigation, police found almost 11,000 contacts saved on his phone – around 60 per cent of which were saved as a woman’s name alongside the name of a dating app.
Iwuh was jailed for 16 years for rape and voyeurism on Friday after being found guilty following a trial in May.
During his sentencing hearing, it emerged that Iwuh is also facing four other allegations, three of rape, which are being investigated by police forces in Essex and Dorset.
They relate to separate victims and the offences are alleged to have happened in 2019, 2007 and 2022. The 2007 case is a so-called “cold case”, and Essex police are waiting on new DNA analysis, the court heard.
It is understood that one alleged victim came forward after seeing Iwuh on a Facebook group called “Are We Dating the same man?”
Now, the Metropolitan Police have issued a nationwide appeal urging any further potential victims to come forward.
On his LinkedIn page, Iwuh lists Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as former employers. The Independent has contacted both trusts for comment.
Detective Inspector Sharad Verma, from the South Area Command Unit, said: “We believe there may be more victims out there, targeted by Iwuh under the same circumstances, and urge them to contact us or their local police force.
“I hope the victim-survivor can find reassurance in our actions to put this predator behind bars and that it may give more women the strength to come forward and report crimes. You will be listened to and supported.”
The court heard Iwuh had been practising as an NHS mental health nurse for a decade and had also practised as a priest. Official records by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which regulates nurses, show Iwuh was suspended from practising in November 2023.
In a statement from the victim of the June 2022 attack read out in court, it was revealed she suffered bruises to her body as a result of the rape.
She said: “This had a deep emotional effect on me. I felt completely numb, and my family members couldn’t reach me.
The physical examination after she made the allegation felt “completely humiliating” and she said “fear led me to leave London”.
“I kept thinking how he was still working as a psychiatric nurse. As a healthcare professional myself, that thought has been irreducibly upsetting. I later learnt his license was suspended thanks to police efforts.”
“When I learned there was a video recording of the rape, I felt physically sick.”
“When I had to watch the video of the rape at the police station, I had the exact pain like it was happening all over again.”
The woman described how, having previously been a social person, she now finds excuses not to go out and said the trauma of the rape impacted her ability to work, relationships and her health.
In a statement released through police after the sentencing, she said: “Now he’s in prison, I do feel there has been some justice. I’ve been supported by officers throughout the investigation, and I would encourage others who have been harmed to come forward, report what has happened and get help and support.”
Iwuh’s defence counsel, De Souza KC, revealed he had not informed his wife, with whom he had a three-year-old child, that he was facing charges and had disappeared.
Iwah will be put on the sex offenders register for life, a restraining order was issued to prevent him from contacting the victim and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was enforced.
Anyone who wants to make a report relating to Iwuh is urged to contact police by calling 101.
