Accused rapist ambushed neighbour while she was working from home
A man accused of breaking into a woman’s home and threatening her with a knife before raping her on the kitchen floor has denied a string of sexual assaults in Melbourne’s west, including another incident at a nearby school the next day.
Timothy Richards, 39, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday after being charged with two counts of rape, one count of aggravated burglary and one count of threatening to kill.
Police allege he knocked on the door of a home in Whitsunday Drive, Hoppers Crossing, on Thursday while the woman was alone and working from home.
The court heard the man had been living at his ex-partner’s home nearby and had approached the property where the couple had had a brief conversation 20 minutes earlier.
Richards allegedly pulled out a large kitchen knife and threatened to kill the 35-year-old woman, then ordered her to take off her clothes as she screamed and begged him to leave.
The court heard how the man, who police said was wearing a hoodie and covering his face to hide his identity, refused and took her jacket, then dragged the woman into a nearby kitchen and sexually assaulted her.
He then allegedly pushed the woman to the ground and raped her before getting up and walking out the front door.
The woman told investigators that she eventually got up, locked the door, and called her husband when she realized he was gone.
Sex crimes squad detective Aiden Verdun described the alleged assault as “a horrific attack on a defenseless victim in the safety of his own home”.
Richards was also charged with another alleged sexual assault when a woman was approached outside Mossfiel Primary School in Hoppers Crossing Langridge Street at about 6.45am on Friday.
Police allege the woman, a staff member, was outside picking up litter when a man wearing a high-vis vest tried to chat her up before following her into a nearby classroom.
The court heard the man put the woman in a headlock while they were fighting and tried to kick her after allegedly raping her.
Detectives are also investigating a third incident in which a 21-year-old woman was followed and captured at a nearby bus stop.
The woman remembered the man as being about 6 feet tall and of Southeast Asian appearance.
Investigators are trying to determine through DNA testing whether he is connected to the Hoppers Pass incidents.
Richards, who denied all allegations against him, was arrested on Friday morning.
The court heard he was on bail for three offenses including charges of unlawful assault, assault with a weapon, criminal damage and possession of methamphetamine.
He appeared in court Saturday afternoon with his shaved head bowed.
He will be arrested and brought to court on November 27.
Police also responded to a home on nearby Branton Road in Hoppers Junction after a resident reported a possible burglary Friday night.
The 39-year-old will return to Melbourne Magistrates Court in October.
With Ashleigh McMillan
