Rape in Sixty Minutes - true story - real life

[deanman26]

Rape in Sixty Minutes

A controversial issue because the rapes were highly organised and orchestrated (by mobile phone) and had a racial/cultural element. The perpetrators will now discover what it’s like, no doubt being raped and assaulted themselves, in jail.

Go to:

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2002_08_11/story_656.asp

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/

“ … It was the middle of the afternoon in the middle of a large city. An 18-year-old girl had just been for a job interview. She gets off the suburban train with some men whom she has just met. So begins a horror journey into night. It only ends when she's been sexually assaulted by 14 men and raped 25 times. What Amanda doesn't know is she's just the latest in the series of gang rapes with ugly racial overtones. What her attackers didn't realise is that Amanda's courage, and her remarkable bravery, would see them get what they deserved…”

See transcript:

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2002_08_11/story_659.asp

---------------

Any thoughts and opinions?

Dean

 

[Phoenyx]

She did the right thing. Good for her.

 

[toffeegyrl]

*sigh*

I dont' know what to say. What kind of monsters these guys are defies description.

I hope they find out how humiliating and awful having your dignity and freedom taken can be. That woman is unbelievably brave and strong. I can't even imagine what it must be like to have to admit something like that happened to you, then face your attackers in open court AND the press.

They should give that girl a job going around speaking about the importance of coming forward. Rapists, like other abusers, count on the silence of their victims.

Reading this just made me cringe with horror and disbelief. What is the mindset of a male that does this? How could any man think this is a fun activity? a joke? I don't understand. I probably never will. Lock 'em up with each other, I say.

 

[Spinaroonie]

I never trutsted Andy Rooney.

 

[Never]

I never trutsted Andy Rooney.

What the hell has that got to do with anything?

 

[toffeegyrl]

I believe it was a joke...

Andy Rooney, as in the long-winded commentator at the End of 60 minutes.

not a very good joke, of course, but an obvious attempt at levity.

 

[deanman26]

Gang rapist gets 55 years

Gang rapist gets 55 years

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,4909486%5E601,00.html

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,4909486,00.html

Gang rapist gets 55 years
By Iain Payten and Martin Chulov
16aug02

THE leader of a gang of rapists that terrorised western Sydney has been sentenced to 55 years in jail, the harshest fixed sentence recorded in Australia for rape.

Labelled a bully, a coward and "the worst of all offenders" by NSW District Court judge Michael Finnane, the 20-year-old will not be eligible for parole until February 11, 2040.
The man, who cannot be named until his brother is sentenced next month, was convicted of 21 charges relating to three pack rapes on four women during a three-week spree in August 2000.

His sentence is greater than those being served by some of Australia's most notorious murderers.

Justice Finnane said the rapist was a menace to society, claiming the degradation and humiliation of his crimes was usually only seen in a war zone. "People talk about rape as a sexual crime, but in reality it's a crime of degradation and contempt," Justice Finnane said. "The ultimate degradation of a woman is rape."

The sentence was met with mayhem in the packed court, with three of the rapist's victims embracing, while his wailing mother collapsed and was stretchered to an ambulance.

The man has refused to show any remorse and spent his time in court yesterday smirking and mouthing obscenities.

"I'm innocent, and I'll remain my innocence till the day I die, you c . . .," he told the judge as he was led away by five Corrective Service officers.

The judge was also convinced not to name the rapist following argument from barrister Terry Healey, who said the man's family would suffer following extensive media coverage of the trials.

"We are facing a tinder box situation at present in the community," Mr Healey said.

The man was the dominant member of a gang of 14 youths, not all of whom have been caught, responsible for a spate of gang rapes in Sydney in the lead-up to the Olympics.

The judge praised the man's four victims, three of whom were in court, saying it was their courage and strength through the ordeal that led to the conviction and prevented other attacks.

"Had they not been prepared to come forward and assist, the people of this state could be exposed to great danger," he said.

Outside the court the three young women said they were happy with the sentence.

"We're rapt, we're very happy," they said. "We're happy with the time."

Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen said the man was the linchpin in a series of attacks.

"These horrendous gang rapes have left an indelible stain on the criminal history of NSW and the psyche of its citizens," Ms Cunneen said.

Bilal Hajeid and Mahmoud Chami, both 20, have already been sentenced for their roles in two of the gang rapes – receiving 23 and 18 years behind bars respectively.

Yesterday's sentence was described by authorities on criminal sentencing as "off the scale" and "extraordinary".

Melbourne University's Criminology Department head Arie Freiberg said the average sentence for murder in Australia was 14 to 18 years.

"To put it in perspective, Julian Knight, who was convicted for the multiple-murder Hoddle Street massacre, was only given somewhere over 30 years," he said.

Mr Freiberg said 10 to 15 years was "pretty high" for aggravated sexual assault.

Law Council of Australia executive member John North said that although the crimes were horrendous, the justice system must be relied upon for proportionality in sentencing.

 

[Ms_Lilith]

I cried as I read that, and it's taken me a good 15 minutes to gather myself enough to post.

I'm so proud of her... and I just.. I can't even imagine the horror that she went through. I can't imagine the threat of death... I can't imagine being violated so many times, by so many people.. I just... it's bone-chilling to me.

My heart is breaking, and yet, I know that it ended for the best...

I'm speechless.

 

[deanman26]

Rapist - headlines

Rapist headlines

Go to:

www.newspix.com.au/aus/20020816.PDF

www.theaustralian.news.com.au

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,4917611%5E2702,00.html

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,4909486%5E601,00.html

Dean

 

[intrigued]

Damn it all.

In this case, I would have screamed my head off assisting in putting these total slimes away for good. In my case, I could not do so. He went on to rape and molest many children in my family, all his life, and God only knows how many others. He blew his brains out 6 years ago. Wonder why?

Please find the courage to stop this. I was a child and terrified and unable to process it.
We have to stop this.

Vixenshe, I have been touched by your words and the links you offered in the other rape thread, I just want you to know that. Bless you dear, you have all the support I can muster, as does anyone else that needs a little help.

 

[deanman26]

sentence for rapist

www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/23/1030052975185.html

Sentence angers rape gang victims
The Age newspaper - August 24 2002

A man who took part in two gang rapes of three teenage girls and was planning to rape a fourth before she escaped was entitled to leniency because of his remorse, intellectual disability and prospect of rehabilitation, a Sydney judge said yesterday.

But, speaking after Judge Michael Finnane yesterday sentenced the man to 25 years in jail with a non-parole period of 15 years, two of the women raped by the man rejected the judge's reasoning.

"He wasn't retarded when he was assaulting me... I think that's crap," one of the women said.

"He didn't show any concern when he was doing it to me," said another victim when asked about the man's remorse.

Now 19, the man, referred to as H, pleaded guilty to his part in three of Sydney's notorious serial gang rapes in August, 2000. He participated in the rapes of two teenage women taken from Chatswood to Greenacre on August 10, and was one of 14 men who raped an 18-year-old at three locations in Bankstown and Chullora on August 30.

The judge said the gang coordinated their attacks using mobile phones, showing a degree of planning which distinguished them from any other cases of gang rape.

On August 4 H took the leading role in an attack on a 14-year-old travelling home by train to Punchbowl. He was one of four youths who approached the teenager, sitting beside her, putting his arm around her in a rough fashion and placing his right hand on her thigh.

He tried to move his hand to her groin area before asking: "Will you f--- me? Come on, you'll like it, it's really big."

Later he said: "You're a slut, will you come out with me?"

The woman was twice punched and threatened with violence before being grab-bed around the neck by another gang member, who held a condom in her face.

While still aboard the train, H masturbated in front of her. When she tried to turn away and said "You wonder why people don't like the Lebanese", he slapped her.

During the attack, H received a call from other gang members in which he told the caller: "I've got a slut with me, bro, come to Punchbowl." Judge Finnane said he was satisfied that had the teenager not escaped, H and the caller were planning to abduct and rape her.

H's crimes were cowardly, contemptible, premeditated and warranted stern punishment, the judge said.

However, H had an IQ of 67, putting him in the lowest 1 per cent of the population.

"I give weight to evidence he is remorseful, that he can be rehabilitated and has some intellectual disability."

These factors combined with his early guilty pleas meant the man's sentence should be considerably less than that of the gang ringleader and others who had shown no remorse, Judge Finnane said.

Two other gang members will be sentenced on September 6 and a third on October 11.