Trigger warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault
A Sydney man who terrorised women in the early 2000s by breaking into their homes and sexually assaulting them has pleaded guilty to a raft of offences.
Darren Kennedy, 53, was dubbed the “Inner West rapist” over several attacks on women in Sydney in 2003 and 2004.
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At the time, his identity was unknown.
In March 2004, Strike Force McCoy was established to investigate the sexual assaults.
Despite exhaustive investigations, including help from the FBI, that investigation was suspended in 2005 with no offender identified.
In 2020, Strike Force McCoy was reopened and investigators used new technology to look at DNA samples collected from crime scenes.
While Kennedy himself was not in the database, NSW Police said he was identified through a close family relative who is.
That breakthrough led to Kennedy’s arrest after his DNA was linked to four of the crime scenes.
At the time, the incidents were also linked by location and modus operandi.
On Thursday, Kennedy pleaded guilty to 13 offences before Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.
Those charges included five counts of sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of aggravated enter dwelling with intent, two counts of take or detain a person with intent to obtain advantage and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Three other charges were dismissed.
Terrifying attacks
The first incident linked to Kennedy occurred in Croydon on December 14, 2003.
A 43-year-old woman had been sleeping when she woke up just before midnight to the sound of rattling coming from her backpack on the floor beside the bed.
“(She) opened her eyes to see the offender crouched over her backpack,” a statement of agreed facts tendered to the court states.
She asked him what he was doing. He then walked over to her bed, took a pillow from the bed and held it up to his face while he placed his hand over her mouth.
He then told her to “just be quiet” and “don’t look at me”.
The victim began to cry and pleaded with him: “Please don’t do this, the door is right there, just go.”
Kennedy then orally raped her.
“(The victim) … felt terrified as the offender kept changing what he wanted her to do and she did not know what was going to happen next,” the agreed facts state.
Before he fled, Kennedy repeatedly told her: “Don’t look at me. Don’t tell anyone, you’re not to get anybody.”
Kennedy told the victim to hold a pillow to her face so she did not see him and count to 20 before she moved.
After he left, she frantically checked the house before calling a neighbour, who then alerted emergency services.
During the second incident weeks later on January 5, 2004, Kennedy grabbed a 23-year-old woman and pulled her into a laneway beside an apartment complex at Bondi Beach.
He pushed the victim from behind and forced her onto her knees.
“In fear, (the victim) began to struggle and scream. The offender placed his hand over (her) mouth and said ‘Shut the f*** up’,” court documents say.
She was crying and he then orally raped her.
He then walked away and said: “Don’t look back.”
The victim then ran out of the laneway towards her home. On the way, she encountered a woman and asked for her assistance before police and paramedics were called.
DNA match
Days later, on January 16, Kennedy attacked a 17-year-old girl at Bexley.
The girl, who lived with her family in a unit, had fallen asleep before waking up to a noise coming from the window of her bedroom.
“(The victim) saw it was a man … which caused her immediate fear,” documents say.
Kennedy “moved quickly” towards the girl before telling her to “be quiet, I’m not going to hurt you”.
She told him to “take everything, just don’t hurt me”.
Kennedy then touched her breasts while she was on the bed. In an attempt to get away from him, she told him to let her use the toilet.
Instead, Kennedy ordered her to climb out the bedroom window as his hands were around her mouth and neck.
“Put your head down, don’t look at me,” he told her.
He then forced her to walk to an area at the rear of the units where the clothes line was and pushed her head hard against a brick wall.
He then grabbed her breasts and attempted to pull her pants down.
The victim became angry and starting kicking him and screaming out for help, causing Kennedy to become more physically aggressive towards her.
“(The victim) turned to face the offender and he grabbed her head and pushed it down to stop her seeing his face,” the documents say.
The victim continued to struggle with Kennedy and, at one point, she slipped and fell to the ground. He then assaulted her as she lay on the ground before he fled.
The victim suffered a black eye and a bruised shoulder.
She then returned inside and told her parents what happened and police were called.
About two months later, on March 26, 2004, Kennedy sexually assaulted a woman in her Marrickville home.
The 51-year-old had woken to get ready for the day, which included packing for a later flight to attend her son’s wedding.
About 6.30am, she was grabbed from behind while walking out of the laundry of her home.
Kennedy put his hand over her mouth and his left hand over her eyes and told her: “Don’t scream.”
He then forced her across the backyard to a wall that adjoined the neighbour’s property.
She cried and sobbed and said: “Please don’t do this, I just want to go to my son’s wedding.”
He said: “I’m going to do it anyway.”
Kennedy then raped her before telling her: “Don’t turn around, don’t look.”
Before leaving, he told the victim: “This is going to be our secret, you are not going to tell anybody. You don’t want to spoil your son’s wedding by telling anybody.”
Kennedy told her to count to 100 before she could move.
The victim waited a few minutes before she built up the courage to turn around and found Kennedy had left.
She ran inside and called her husband and emergency services were alerted.
DNA left at each crime scene was later linked to Kennedy, leading to his arrest on November 29, 2021.
Kennedy remains in custody and is set to appear again in court next month.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.