Man charged more than 40 years after woman assaulted in her Melbourne home

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Police in Victoria have made a breakthrough in the cold case of an elderly woman who was sexually assaulted twice in her own home in the 1980s. A 69-year-old man from Melbourne’s south-west has been charged over the incident.

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00:00This really is a remarkable development considering how long this case has gone on and police

00:07are hoping that it finally brings some closure to the family of Jessie Lauder, that 82-year-old

00:12widow who, as you said, was allegedly sexually assaulted in her own home more than four decades

00:18ago.

00:20This is a case that has long frustrated sex crimes detectives and police believe they

00:24have cracked it today with, as you said, that 69-year-old man charged with a host of charges

00:29including one count of rape, two counts of attempted aggravated rape, as well as a series

00:34of burglary and assault charges.

00:36Police allege that those charges go back to two attacks that took place about two years

00:41apart in Melbourne in the early 80s.

00:44They say the first attack took place in 1981 when a man entered this woman's home, allegedly

00:50through the back door and then allegedly sexually assaulted her.

00:53That was in September of 1981 and police allege about two years later in July of 1983, a similar

00:59incident occurred and since then they've been operating on the assumption that the

01:02same perpetrator was allegedly involved in both incidents.

01:06Police have publicly described this as a complex and frustrating case that's played out over

01:11several decades.

01:13Back in 2016, they offered a $500,000 reward for anybody who came forward with information

01:18and then about 10 days ago, on the 14th of January, they launched a fresh appeal for

01:22information.

01:23It's not exactly clear, Jo, what happened as a result of that but earlier today they

01:27said that they had brought a 69-year-old man from Hoppers Crossing in for questioning

01:33and just about an hour ago they announced that he had been charged and he's expected

01:37to face court this afternoon.

01:40Police in their public statement, they haven't addressed media but they issued a statement

01:43where they praised the persistence of this elderly widow's family over the past few decades

01:49in their quest to bring their family member to justice and Jo, I'm sure we'll keep across

01:54any changes or anything that happens in that court appearance and hopefully bring that

01:57to viewers this afternoon.

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