Jenni Ryall
The Daily Telegraph
January 22,2014
AS SYDNEY prepared for the 2000 Olympics, a group of up to fourteen Lebanese-Australian males terrorised the streets.
The youths led by 19-year-old Bilal Skaf were involved in horrific sexual attacks on women and girls in the south-western suburbs of Sydney over a month period.
On February 4, another one of the attackers may be back on the streets. The rapist, known only as 'H', is expected to be granted parole after serving 11 years in prison.
The terms and date of his release will be decided on February 4, with the panel noting the parole conditions would be "stringent".
H's identity has been suppressed by the courts as he was only 17 years old at the time of the attacks, and suffered from "intellectual and mental disabilities".
Last year, H's parole was delayed as there were fears he could not integrate properly into society, due to not having enough exposure to the community through weekend and day release.
His solicitor Keppie Waters disagreed, saying her client H was "capable of adhering to normal community life".
She also said he was mindful of not contacting co-offenders, even though he would be living near them.
H showed little emotion as the hearing took place and the news was announced that he would soon be released.
"What you hear about or read about only in the context of wartime atrocities"- Judge Michael Finnane describing the attacks that occurred on the streets of Sydney in the months of August and September 2000.
The horror began on August 4, 2000, when a 14-year-old girl was approached by four men while travelling on a train.
In a vicious attack she was punched, slapped, and told she would be forced to perform sex acts on the men and that she would then be raped.
One of the men said to someone on his mobile phone: "I've got a sl*t with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
The girl managed to escape before she was harmed, but it was the start of a rape rampage which would not end for a month.The horror began on August 4, 2000, when a 14-year-old girl was approached by four men while travelling on a train.
In a vicious attack she was punched, slapped, and told she would be forced to perform sex acts on the men and that she would then be raped.
The girl managed to escape before she was harmed, but it was the start of a rape rampage which would not end for a month.The horror began on August 4, 2000, when a 14-year-old girl was approached by four men while travelling on a train.
In a vicious attack she was punched, slapped, and told she would be forced to perform sex acts on the men and that she would then be raped.
One of the men said to someone on his mobile phone: "I've got a sl*t with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
The girl managed to escape before she was harmed, but it was the start of a rape rampage which would not end for a month.The horror began on August 4, 2000, when a 14-year-old girl was approached by four men while travelling on a train.
In a vicious attack she was punched, slapped, and told she would be forced to perform sex acts on the men and that she would then be raped.
One of the men said to someone on his mobile phone: "I've got a sl*t with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
The girl managed to escape before she was harmed, but it was the start of a rape rampage which would not end for a month.The horror began on August 4, 2000, when a 14-year-old girl was approached by four men while travelling on a train.
In a vicious attack she was punched, slapped, and told she would be forced to perform sex acts on the men and that she would then be raped.
One of the men said to someone on his mobile phone: "I've got a sl*t with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
The girl managed to escape before she was harmed, but it was the start of a rape rampage which would not end for a month.The horror began on August 4, 2000, when a 14-year-old girl was approached by four men while travelling on a train.
In a vicious attack she was punched, slapped, and told she would be forced to perform sex acts on the men and that she would then be raped.
One of the men said to someone on his mobile phone: "I've got a sl*t with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
The girl managed to escape before she was harmed, but it was the start of a rape rampage which would not end for a month.
On August 10th, 2000, two girls, aged 17 and 18, were late-night shopping at Chatswood Mall in Sydney. The girls were approached by eight men, including Bilal Skaf, who persuaded them to get into a white van with four of the men.
With the belief they may get some marijuana to smoke and then dropped home, the girls got into the back of the van, where there were no seats. Bilal introduced himself as Adam, and stated he was 22 years old. A red car, with the other four men, followed the van.
The girls were taken across the Harbour Bridge, to Northcote Park in Greenacre.
In this park the teens were beaten in a show of authority and then forced to repeatedly perform oral sex on their attackers.
After the disgraceful attacks, the girls were left in the park at close to midnight, in a highly emotional state with no phones and no money. They were rescued by a couple walking by.
Throughout his trial, Bilal Skaf continued to suggest the girls were willing participants. The extent of the beatings and disgusting details of the crimes proved this was not the case.
The following Saturday, August 12, 2000, the gang struck again. A 16-year-old girl was taken to Gosling Park in Greenacre by her friend of six months, Mohammed Skaf, 17.
When she arrived at the park she was raped by his brother Bilal Skaf and another man, while 12 men watched on. She said they were "standing around, laughing and talking in their own language".
She then had a gun held to her head and was kicked in the stomach. She managed to escape and run to a phone box, hysterical.
The judge said due to her courage she avoided being raped by all the men present.
"These men treated her much like wild animals treat prey they have just killed," Judge Michael Finnane said during Bilal Skaf's trial.
One of the most horrific attacks was an orchestrated gang rape on the 30th August, 2000.
A woman, known only as C, was approached by the men at Bankstown Railway Station and they asked her to join them to smoke marijuana. She agreed.
The woman was then taken to three separate locations and raped 25 times by the 14 men over a period of six hours.
In what led commentators to describe the attack as "racially motivated", the woman claimed her attackers called her an "Aussie pig" and asked if "Leb c*** tasted better than Aussie c***".
They also said they would rape her "Leb-style".
The first part of the attack occurred in toilets in Bankstown, where she was assaulted by four men.
After this disturbing attack, the victim was passed over to another group of men and taken to Bankstown Trotting Club where she was again raped.
The victim was then driven to an industrial estate in Chullora where she was raped multiple times and, in a final degrading act, hosed down by the attackers.
Justice Finnane said during the trial of Bilal Skaf that the crimes were "carefully planned and coordinated".
The degree of planning and coordination distinguishes these crimes from other cases of gang rape which have been reported from time to time, which are often, if not usually, perpetrated by intoxicated men who have seized an opportunity which has been presented to them," he said.
"None of these crimes happened on the spur of the moment. None of the assailants was in any way affected by alcohol or drugs."
The final reported attack happened on September 4, 2000.
Two girls, both 16, were lured from Beverly Hills train station and taken to a house in Lakemba. Once there they were raped by three men over a period of four hours.
The Skaf brothers and several of their accomplices, including 'H', were arrested and tried. After being sentenced leniently, Premier Bob Carr ordered a retrial.
The ringleader Bilal Skaf was sentenced to 55 years in jail, which was later reduced to 28 years.
'H' is expected to be released in the community in less than a month.
Four of the other men convicted of the gang rapes have been granted parole, while the ringleader Bilal Skaf, now 32, will not be eligible for parole until 2033.
One of the victims was told: "You deserve it because you're an Australian".
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