 In January 2014, John Paul became the focus of an issue-led story when he is raped by his student, Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice), after enduring months of homophobic bullying from Finn and Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham).Planning for the story by the production team began in 2012 due to the extensive research required to portray the issue.The plot marks the second time "Hollyoaks" has tackled the issue, having previously explored it in 2000 when Luke Morgan (Gary Lucy) was raped.