- Woman, 90, allegedly raped in a retirement home
- The police have arrested a 34-year-old man
A man has been arrested after allegedly breaking into a retirement home and raping an elderly woman. Police reveal he was out on bail for several serious offences.
Brett Anthony Crawford, 34, also known as Brett Ralph, allegedly broke into the facility in Bateau Bay, on the NSW Central Coast, about 12.40pm last Wednesday.
Once inside, he allegedly attacked and sexually assaulted a 90-year-old woman who did not know him.
Police will allege he used bedsheets to silence the woman’s ‘cries for help’ and pinned her against the bed with such force he caused injuries to her arms and legs.
He then allegedly sexually assaulted her before stealing some of her belongings and then fleeing the scene.
The woman is said to have suffered ‘extensive injuries’, but managed to alert staff. She was then rushed to hospital in serious condition.
Police were called to the retirement home and immediately set up a crime scene.
The State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad immediately set up Strike Force Easterbrook to investigate the incident.
Brett Crawford has been charged after allegedly raping a 90-year-old woman
Two days later, detectives raided a property at The Entrance at around 9.20pm and found electronics, SIM cards and clothing.
The items have been seized for forensic examination.
After further investigation, detectives went to a home in Caves Beach around 7:30 PM on Monday, where Crawford was arrested while allegedly trying to flee from police.
Police allege Crawford ran out the back door and then jumped a fence to avoid officers, suffering minor injuries to his arm.
He was taken to hospital for treatment.
After his release, he was taken to Belmont Police Station where he was charged with several crimes.
This includes serious burglary and committing serious criminal violence, inflicting actual bodily harm with the intention of having sexual intercourse with the victim, serious sexual assault – breaking and entering with intent, and inflicting serious bodily harm to the victim.
He was refused bail to appear at Belmont Local Court on Tuesday.
Crawford is scheduled to appear in court later on Tuesday
Police allege Crawford was out on bail for several serious offenses at the time of the alleged incident.
Police Sexual Crimes Unit Commander Detective Inspector Jayne Doherty said the alleged incident was “extremely sad” and her heart went out to the woman, her family and all other residents of the facility.
‘It’s terrible that someone in the safety of their home would do that [allegedly] being attacked like that, but [allegedly] Attacking a defensive old lady is unbelievable,” she told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
Supt Doherty said Crawford’s alleged motive remained a mystery.
“Hopefully that will come out at trial,” she said.
‘So far we have been unable to discover any connection between this man, the elderly care institution and the woman prior to the commission of this (alleged) crime.
“There was a lot of security in place and since this incident they have even hired extra security to make their residents feel safer, and they have taken a security risk to upgrade the facility where possible.”
Supt Doherty said it was not known why the man allegedly chose that aged care facility.
‘We couldn’t find any connection before then. “All we can assume is that it was an opportunistic incident,” she said.
‘We looked for him for quite a few days; we’ve had help from the community, from various agencies to try and local areas to identify this man and track him down, which ultimately led us to an address on Caves Beach yesterday.”