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Gardaí urged to keep close eye on notorious sex offender following prison release

Man who forced vulnerable women into prostitution is now out of prison

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Gardaí have been urged to closely monitor the activities of sex trafficker and former brothel boss David Archer after he was released from prison in recent days.

The Rape Crisis Network has warned that the 60-year-old registered sex offender, who once forced vulnerable women into prostitution, “will continue to be a risk to all women”.

Archer was sentenced to three months in prison in February on charges of failing to notify gardaí of his whereabouts after moving to Ireland from the UK.

By the time of his recent arrest, Archer had been operating a handyman service from a basement premises on Dublin’s Baggot Street.

Using the false name “Jeff Both”, he had unfettered access to people’s homes, including unsuspecting women ­living alone.

He had been wanted by gardaí after failing to appear in court for breaches of the Sex Offenders Act last summer.

Archer arrived here in March 2023 after serving just six years of a 13-year prison sentence imposed by a UK court after being convicted of operating a string of London brothels.

At his trial in 2017, the Glaswegian was also convicted of sexually assaulting a number of vulnerable women who were lured from Eastern Europe and Brazil with the promise of proper jobs and forced into prostitution.

Archer’s victims told how he also ­coerced them to pose for explicit photos that were then used to advertise sexual services on adult websites he controlled.

In some cases, they said they had been forced to engage in sexual activity against their will and Archer, who threatened to expose them as illegal immigrants, pocketed half of everything they earned.

Investigators also suspected Archer drugged and sexually assaulted some of his victims.