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Luke Ford, 35, a former body double for Brad Pitt, was sentenced to 16 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh after being convicted of 19 sex crimes, including Scotland's first prosecution for "stealthing," according to People magazine.
The man was found guilty of multiple charges relating to physical and sexual abuse against women over a 12-year period, prosecutors said. According Ford's abuse included strangling victims, smashing a partner's head against a car window, slapping another across the face, and blackmailing women by threatening to share illicit photographs with their employers or families, according to the BBC.
"Ford is a dangerous and manipulative sexual predator," Police Scotland Detective Inspector Steven Gray said. "I hope that knowing he is now behind bars for his crimes helps them continue to move forward with their lives."
Among Ford's convictions was one for "stealthing" — defined as not using a protective condom without a partner's knowledge or consent, which is classified as rape, prosecutors said. The conviction marks the first of its kind in Scotland.
One victim, who met Ford through Tinder in 2017, said she handed him a condom and explicitly stated he needed to use protection to prevent pregnancy. Though Ford responded, "Good idea," he later admitted to not using the condom, The Times of London reported.
"I was shocked and upset," the victim told People. "I would not have had sex with him without a condom. I asked him to leave. I felt completely violated."
After she confronted him, Ford called her "paranoid" and told her to take an emergency contraceptive pill.
Ford, from Stirling, Scotland, worked as an amateur actor and served as one of Pitt's body doubles during the 2013 filming of "World War Z" in Glasgow.
"He genuinely thought he was going to be the next Brad Pitt," one victim told STV News under the condition of anonymity. "I think there were multiple stunt doubles, but the way that he spun it, it looked like he was Brad Pitt's one-and-only stunt double."
The victim described Ford as a "master manipulator" and added: "I would say it's taken me a long time to get over what happened and say that life is good now."
In addition to the 16-year prison sentence, Ford will be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely, the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service said. Anyone affected by sexual assault can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or visit RAINN.org for confidential support.
