A violent serial rapist who dragged a woman into a creek and tried to drown her before subjecting her to hours of horrific sexual abuse has been jailed for more than two decades.
Joel Russo, 29, grabbed the woman from behind and abducted her as she was jogging along the Merri Creek Trail in Melbourne’s inner north in 2019.
He dragged her down an embankment towards the creek and she clawed at the ground to try to get away.
The woman screamed as Russo pulled her into the creek’s waters and pushed her head under the surface twice.
He said he would let her live if they had sex and repeatedly raped her in the creek and then in some nearby bushes.
“This was an horrendous sexual attack,” Judge Liz Gaynor told the County Court on Tuesday.
“It was predatory, persistent, highly violent, terrifying and prolonged.”
Russo pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, sexually touching without consent and reckless conduct in danger of causing serious injury.
Judge Gaynor sentenced him to up to 20 years and four months in prison.
He must serve a minimum of 17 years before he can apply for parole.
She said there was high risk Russo could reoffend, as four months before committing the December 2019 rape he had been released from prison after serving time for another sexual attack.
In that case he jailed for five years for raping a 16-year-old girl near a public toilet block, threatening to kill her and pushing her to the ground to stop her from screaming.
“It is clear you are an extremely dangerous offender,” Judge Gaynor said.
“The objective threat you present to women generally cannot be underestimated.”
He has already served three-and-a-half years of his sentence and will be registered as a sex offender for life.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Australian Associated Press