London - A teenager has been jailed for raping a student after his parents saw an incriminating text message on his phone and told him to go to the police.
Jack Evans, 18, would have likely avoided punishment for the attack because his victim had decided not to make a complaint.
But two months after the assault, he apologised to the young woman in a text message later seen by his father, Jonathan, and stepmother Sarah.
The couple persuaded Evans that the best thing to do was confess, and took him to a police station.
A court heard that Evans admitted sexually assaulting the teenage student, who told police after they traced her that she had been raped.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court was told that Evans, a takeaway restaurant worker, had persuaded the woman to have sex with him in January last year but she changed her mind.
Prosecutor Claire Pickthall said: "He carried on anyway, despite her telling him to stop and trying to push him off.
"She didn’t make a complaint but two months later Evans and his stepmother turned up at a police station to say what had happened."
Gareth Williams, defending, asked for a suspended sentence because of the "exceptional circumstances".
He said: "It is extremely rare for anyone to admit to such a serious offence without there being a complaint."
The court heard Evans was "scared" of going to prison but knew it was the likely outcome and turned up at his sentencing with a rucksack. He sat in the dock in a navy suit, white shirt and tie.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told him there were aggravating features and he must go to jail.
She said: "Two months after the rape you apologised to your victim and said you understood why she was upset.
"But that text came to the attention of your father and mother, who took you to a police station. You told an officer your name and said you’d had sex with the young woman."
Evans, of Pontypool, South Wales, was 17 at the time of the crime but became an adult before he was charged with rape.
He was sentenced to two years in a young offenders’ institute after his age and guilty plea were taken into account. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years. Evans mouthed "I love you" to his tearful mother, Deniz Stewart, as he was led to the cells.
His father and stepmother, both 47, were forced to wait outside the court because of social distancing rules.
Software engineer Mr Evans told the Daily Mail on Monday: "We didn’t march him into the police station – it was a discussion we had with him and he agreed with the decision. The thing I was trying to instil with him is that it’s always best to tell the truth and suffer the consequences, than to lie and be deceitful.
"All I was trying to do was the best for my son. It’s been difficult for all of us."
At the time of the rape, Evans was studying maths, computing and history at college and working in a fast-food restaurant.
Mr Evans added: "I’ve said to him that the best thing for him is to show everyone that you’re doing your best to rectify what has happened.
"It has been a shock to the system for him – I’m hoping being in prison will give him time to reflect."