Mark Lancaster, who claimed to work as an 'assessor' for SponsorAScholar.co.uk

Man arrested for 'sex for tuition fees' website

Source: Independent | Jonathan Brown  | Cahal Milmo | Charlotte Philby

UK Detectives investigating a website offering to pay the tuition fees of female students in return for sex have arrested a man on suspicion of inciting prostitution.

After an undercover investigation by The Independent into a man who claimed to be an “assessor” for SponsorAScholar.co.uk, Mark Lancaster, 39, was detained by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Trafficking and Prostitution Unit at an address in Milton Keynes.

Material including computers was seized at the address and at Mr Lancaster’s family home in the village of Horndean, near Portsmouth in Hampshire, on the edge of the South Downs national park.

The computer consultant, who is said to have clearance to work on a major Ministry of Defence computer project, was questioned and released on police bail.

He will return to Charing Cross police station in central London in February.

DS Alan Clark, who is leading the inquiry, urged anyone who had made contact through the website to get in touch with police.

“If anyone has information in relation to the man shown in the film or the photographs or on the website itself, please contact us on 0800 783 2589 and we will get back to you in strict confidence,” he said.

SponsorAScholar.co.uk offered female students aged 17 to 24 up to £15,000 a year in return for what it described as “discreet adventures” with businessmen in private flats or hotel rooms.

An Independent reporter posing as an undergraduate arranged to meet a man claiming to be an “assessor” for the website at a south London McDonalds last month.

She was told that she would have to undergo a “practical assessment” with him at a nearby flat to demonstrate the level of intimacy she was prepared to show to future “sponsors”. She was told that it would be up to her whether or not she used protection with the men.

He claimed he needed to carry out “quality control” with her. The reporter, who secretly filmed the encounter, declined and left. The website has since been taken down.

While SponsorAScholar.co.uk claimed that 1,400 women had received “scholarships”, it is not known how many responded to the professional-looking website or whether any money has ever changed hands.

However, one student told Channel 4 News that she underwent the “practical assessment” and was later told in an email that her application had been unsuccessful – but that she could re-apply to go through the process again in two months.

The Minister for Women Jo Swinson last week urged the police to investigate anyone suspected of taking advantage of students or forcing vulnerable women into prostitution, in response to a question by the Labour MP and former minister Helen Goodman about SponsorAScholar.co.uk.

The investigation followed mounting concern that rising student fees could be forcing young people into sex work to cover their debt with experts claiming the site was the “tip of the iceberg”.

Mr Lancaster was cleared to work on the vast MoD contract known as “DII” or Defence Information Infrastructure, marrying up the military’s various computer networks.

The “assessor” used the name and former address of a top academic at a leading British university in his dealings with potential students. The academic has since contacted the police.

Students are being offered up to £15,000 a year to cover their university studies in exchange for having sex with a stranger, an undercover investigation by The Independent has revealed.

The website SponsorAScholar.co.uk claims to have arranged for 1,400 women aged between 17 and 24 to be funded through their studies by wealthy businessmen seeking “discreet adventures”.

But in a secretly filmed encounter with an Independent reporter posing as a student, a male “assessor” from the website asked that she undertake a “practical assessment” with him at a nearby flat to prove “the level of intimacy” she was prepared to give before being permitted to find a sponsor online.

He said this was required for “quality control”. He told her that the more she was prepared to do, the more money she would get.

The website’s claims to have a roster of hundreds of students could not be verified. The reporter asked for evidence that scholarships had been awarded and was told that she would have to come back to the flat with the man.

But the requirement for potential “scholars” to submit to a “practical assessment” raises fears that young women students may have been exploited.

The elaborately constructed site gives the appearance of operating in the grey area in Britain’s sex laws which allow escort agencies to function legitimately by offering introductions between clients and sex workers.

Young women facing financial hardship brought on by the rise in the cost of studying were urged tonight not to be tempted into using the website.

Rachel Griffin, director of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which promotes personal safety, said: “Meeting a complete stranger in private could be highly dangerous at any time but when it is in connection with a scheme like this, the risks are sky-high.” The National Union of Students accused those behind the website of seeking to “capitalise on the poverty and financial hardship of women students”.

SponsorAScholar.co.uk offers young women “up to 100% of your Tuition Fees” in return for two-hour sessions with men in hotel rooms or private flats up to four times per term.

“Because of the considerable sums of money our sponsors are offering in scholarship, they tell us that they have expectations of a high level of sexual intimacy with their chosen student,” the website says.

During the meeting between the “assessor” and our reporter – which our reporter insisted must begin in a public place, choosing a fast food restaurant in south London – the man said: “The more you’re prepared to do, the more interest you're going to get, obviously the more sponsorship amount you’re going to get for that.”

SponsorAScholar.co.uk uses a false company and VAT number belonging to the legitimate dating site Match.com. A spokesman for the company said: “The website is not affiliated with Match.com in any way and we are in the process of contacting them to legally require that all references to Match.com are removed immediately.”

SponsorAScholar.co.uk purports to be registered at the former address of a senior academic from a leading British university, and the man claiming to be the assessor used the lecturer’s name in the encounter with the reporter – as well as in email correspondence and on his answerphone message.

The academic, approached by The Independent last Friday, said he had no idea that the website had been registered to his name and former address. He did not recognise the man in our undercover footage. Yesterday he added that he had now contacted the police to report the matter.

The meeting took place at the Powis Street branch of McDonalds in Woolwich, south London, last Thursday at 6.45pm.

As other diners tucked into burgers, the “assessor”, who said he lived near Leicester, bought the reporter coffee and sought to reassure her that the prospective “sponsors” had been vetted and were safe to meet.

Our reporter asked the “assessor” whether the “sponsors” have health checks. He answered: “We do invite them to do that, not all of them choose to do that but you can choose to have protection or not have protection on that basis.”

He described the need for her to first of all have the “practical assessment” with him as like “quality control for us”, adding: “Whatever you put on your sheet what level of intimacy you’re prepared to go into, you and I will go through that today. We’ve got a questionnaire we’ll go through, your likes and dislikes and the kind of thing you’re comfortable doing.”

He added: “We have to do that, to make sure when we put you in front of your sponsor you’re confident in doing the things you said you would do.”

The man added: “You see what you’re trying to do is attract a certain level of sponsorship, you don’t want to go up there saying you know you’re not even going to hold hands type of thing… cause you’re not going to attract any interest at all.”

After the initial 10-minute meeting – which our reporter ended by saying that she would like to reconsider his proposal rather than immediately follow him to the nearby flat for the “practical” – the man walked back to a large block of flats around the corner where he said he was staying on the fifth floor.

SponsorAScholar.co.uk claims to have been operating since 2006, but the website was registered earlier this year.

The site claims to charge “sponsors” a £100 fee and to take three per cent commission from the final “scholarship” total.

When a male reporter approached the site as a potential sponsor, however, he was told there was a “waiting list” and would be contacted in the new year. By contrast the meeting with the woman reporter posing as the female student was immediately arranged.

The “assessor” said our reporter’s decision not to go back to the flat with him was “ok”, adding: “I’ve got other candidates I need to see this evening”, before asking again if she wanted to “do the questionnaire or stop now”.

After being told stop, he suggested meeting on 13 December in Stratford, south-east London: “If we don’t do it tonight I can’t fit you in until then.”

Attempts to confirm the true identity of the “assessor” have since proved unsuccessful.

The man was today no longer returning repeated telephone calls, emails or text messages from The Independent.

Kelley Temple, NUS Women’s Officer, said: “It appears to be… exploiting the fact that women students are in dire financial situations in pursuit of an education.”

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