October 2026

Sydenham sex offender convicted of exposing himself in Bromley

A sex offender who previously entered a woman’s home and lay beside her with his trousers around his ankles has admitted exposing himself in Bromley.

Frank Rawlings, 41, of Newlands Park in Sydenham, also pleaded guilty to assaulting a police constable during his arrest three days after the exposure incident.

He appeared in court on Tuesday and admitted exposure with intent to cause alarm or distress and assaulting a police constable.

Rawlings has a previous conviction for trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence after entering a stranger’s home in Croydon in September 2022.

The woman had fallen asleep on her living room sofa. She woke in the early hours to find Rawlings — a man she had never met — lying beside her, his trousers around his ankles and his arm across her waist.

She shouted at him to leave. He fled before police found him during a search of the surrounding area.

The woman confirmed that she had not been sexually assaulted, but police described her as “understandably horrified”.

Rawlings refused to answer detectives’ questions. Forensic testing of chewing gum left on the sofa matched him, proving he had been inside her home.