Grandmother Jesse Lauder sexually assaulted twice in home over two years

Australian Community Media

Victoria Police renewed appeal for public information over 40 years after an 82-year-old woman was sexually assaulted twice in her own Newport home in 1981 and 1983.

Transcript

00:00I can say that detectives from the sexual crime squad are making a fresh appeal for

00:04information over 40 years after an 82-year-old woman was sexually assaulted twice in her

00:10own home in 1981 and then again in 1983.

00:15With advances in DNA technology and as a result of information received over the years, we're

00:20narrowing down our search now and we believe the male offender lived in the area in Newport

00:25during that two-year period.

00:28These two incidents occurred at the same residential property in Newport between September 1981

00:33and July of 1983.

00:36Eighty-two-year-old Jessie Grace Lauder lived alone in her home in Mason Street in Newport.

00:41She had lived at the property for 55 years.

00:44Jessie was widowed and she sadly passed away in 1993.

00:49On Tuesday the 22nd of September 1981, Jessie was in bed when a man forced entry through

00:54the rear door of her home around 10pm.

00:57He entered the bedroom with a knife and confronted her.

01:01Jessie was then taken to another room in the house and sexually assaulted.

01:05The man is then believed to have looked through Jessie's purse for money before he left the

01:09property and climbed over a back fence into a vacant lot in Oxford Street, Newport.

01:16Less than two years later, the second incident occurred.

01:20On Wednesday the 6th of July 1983, Jessie was in her lounge room getting ready for bed

01:25around 9pm when a man forced entry to her house, this time through the front door.

01:34He forced Jessie into the kitchen and we believe this was to ensure that there was no one else

01:37present in the house before taking her back to the lounge room where he sexually assaulted

01:42her again for the second time.

01:45During this second incident, the male offender made reference to the first incident and warned

01:49Jessie not to call police.

01:52At the time he was described as aged between 20-30 years old with fair complexion, dark

01:58hair, around 175cm tall and he spoke with an Australian accent.

02:05We believe that he will be known to people who lived in the area in Newport at that time

02:09and we are particularly keen to hear from anybody who may have seen, heard or know something.

02:16Investigators have been methodically working through the information received over the

02:19years, particularly after a 2016 public appeal and we believe the offender will have lived

02:24nearby during that 1981-1983 period of time.

02:30We're particularly keen to hear from anyone who can remember a man matching the description

02:33advised that might have lived in the surrounding areas of Mason, Johnson and Oxford Streets

02:41and Lucius and Cunningham Lanes in Newport.

02:44In 2016, a $500,000 award was offered which remains on offer today.

02:52Though Jessie is sadly no longer alive, these brutal attacks have had enduring effects on

02:56her family.

02:59Jessie was a vulnerable older woman who should have been safe in her own home.

03:03On the other hand, this man has lived the last 40 years with relative freedom and no

03:08repercussions yet for what he did.

03:12It is important as ever that the person responsible is brought to justice and I absolutely believe

03:17that with the right information, this investigation can be solved.

03:21If somebody has knowledge of these incidents and has lived with that information over the

03:25past 40 years, now is the time to come forward.

03:30When Jessie Lorder should have been enjoying her golden years, she was brutally attacked

03:34in her own home on two separate occasions.

03:36This has left a significant impact on Jessie and her family, so much so that Malcolm is

03:41here today, representing his family and his grandmother for justice.

03:46While the offender would now be of retirement age himself, it's only a matter of a time

03:50before we could be knocking on his door.

03:57I guess the family is very grateful that the Victorian Police has chosen to continue to

04:04pursue this horrific case over such a long period of time.

04:11There's been long periods where there's been nothing and I guess there's been thoughts

04:21certainly from myself and I guess others in the family that that was the end of it.

04:27It's just withered away.

04:31We had our spirits lifted very much in 2016 and our hopes were raised that there was going

04:39to be finally some justice.

04:43At that time, my uncle and my mum were still alive.

04:50My grandma and my father had already passed at that time and we thought that maybe there

04:56was going to be some justice that my uncle and mum could see.

05:01Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case, but we were contacted again last

05:06year and pleasantly surprised.

05:12I guess we don't really know how much progress has been made by the police, but the fact

05:17that we're all here today and making an appeal for people with anything, if they know anything,

05:25how insignificant they may think it is, it's all going to be important to put a piece in

05:32the puzzle.

05:33If we can just get that last piece that is going to clarify this for the police to be

05:39able to prosecute this offender and bring them to justice, that's really why we go through

05:48this.

05:49Can you tell us about Jessie?

05:50What did she mean to your family and what type of lady was she?

05:55Well, I'm a baby boomer.

05:58My grandma's generation didn't have a title, but if it was, it would be stoic.

06:03She's born not at the turn of the last century, the turn of the century before.

06:09She lived through two world wars.

06:12She brought up two boys at the end of the Great Depression.

06:17I don't want to belittle people's circumstances when we talk about a cost of living crisis,

06:21but for God's sake, there was a cost of living crisis then.

06:25My grandpa and my uncle and dad used to go out shooting rabbits so they could eat.

06:32So they were stoic and fiercely independent, fiercely independent.

06:38They took nothing from nobody.

06:40They had nothing, but they lived and they provided for themselves.

06:45She's five foot nothing, my grandma, five foot nothing, and somebody has gone into the

06:51sanctuary of her own home.

06:55Not once, but twice, where she should be the most protected that she should ever feel.

07:05I just cannot, I cannot express the disgust I have for this person.

07:18How much would it mean to you to finally see this person brought to justice?

07:23Well, I think it would mean a great deal for the family.

07:28In addition to that, I think it sends a very strong message, a couple of strong messages.

07:35One, the police mightn't get you today, they mightn't get you tomorrow, they mightn't get

07:41you next week, but they're never going to give up and they're going to get you.

07:46So any perpetrator will be brought to justice.

07:50You can't get away with this brutality, this lack of respect, you can't do that and get

07:56away with it.

07:57Can you tell us what the effect of these attacks had on Jessie?

08:07Like I said, she's a fiercely independent woman.

08:11After the first attack, she came and lived with my parents and I, we lived just around

08:17the corner, so to speak, 400 metres maybe away, but she only lived there for a very

08:22short time because she's going to go back.

08:25She's going to go back and live in her house, it's her house, and this person is not going

08:30to have her change her life.

08:34So she went back because she'll be safe there, won't she?

08:37She'll be safe in her own home.

08:39She'll be able to live her life, she'll be able to be independent, she won't have to

08:43be a burden on anybody.

08:45She didn't want to be a burden on my mum and dad, wanted to live her own life and not take

08:50anything from anybody.

08:51And then after the second attack, had anything changed?

08:52Did she go back to the home after that attack?

09:03Well she was going to go back to the home and my mum.

09:11My mum said that, you might be able to go back there, but I can never live with myself

09:19to let you go back there.

09:22So she came and she lived with us and she would have gone back.

09:29Strong woman.

09:31Did she, did you call her anything in particular, was she grandma or nana?

09:37Yeah, grandma.

09:38Grandma.

09:40What was your favourite thing about being with her?

09:45Memories are interesting things, aren't they?

09:47Every Sunday night when I was young, we used to go round to their place for tea every Sunday

09:51night and she got me addicted to tomato soup.

09:55It's her fault that I have tomato soup all the time.

09:58That was it, it was tomato soup.

10:00She used to make some homemade party pies and little sausage rolls and then had these

10:06little cupcakes with the wings and a little bit of, she got me addicted to whipped cream

10:12as well, with the whipped cream on top.

10:15So very strong vivid memories of that.

10:18You obviously loved her very much.

10:23Well she's a special woman.

10:25Special woman.

10:26With all the things that she'd gone through, never asked for anything from anybody and

10:31always looked out for other people.

10:34How many children did she have?

10:36Two, two boys.

10:37And who have now?

10:38Both passed.

10:39Both passed.

10:40Do you have a message for this perpetrator?

10:47I was going to say, do the decent thing, but obviously the person has no decency.

10:54So I would think that after they'd been free, having perpetrated these heinous crimes for

11:0440 years, I would like to think that they've got a conscience somewhere and they can look

11:10within themselves.

11:11They have no soul, but look within themselves to do what is decent, what is right.

11:20And maybe, maybe they carry a little bit of a burden.

11:24Well release that burden.

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