Mohammed Ali Ahmad-Rezaei: Iranian refugee repeatedly raped a woman in front of her children ;earns his fate
A refugee who repeatedly raped a woman in front of her children over a three-year period has learned his fate.
Mohammed Ali Ahmad-Rezaei, 46, was sentenced in an Adelaide court on Monday to more than 21 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of five charges of rape last year.
The Iranian refugee was also found guilty of single charges of threatening to disseminate an invasive image, aggravating threatened harm and threatening a person involved in criminal proceedings.
The sentence is one of the longest ever handed down in South Australia to an offender who raped a single victim.
The court heard that Ahmad-Rezaei repeatedly raped a woman between 2017 and 2020, often in the immediate vicinity of her children.
Mohammed Ali Ahmad-Rezaei (pictured) was sentenced to 21 years behind bars in the Adelaide District Court on Monday after a jury found him guilty of five charges of rape last year
During one of those incidents, the woman became pregnant.
Ahmad-Rezaei, who fled Iran in 2011 for fear of persecution, also threatened to spread graphic images of the woman when she once tried to defend herself.
He also threatened to run over her eldest daughter with a car.
The woman relived the ordeal in a harrowing victim impact statement, detailing how the physical and emotional abuse she suffered had turned her life into a ‘living nightmare’.
Judge Leisl Kudelka said the woman’s eldest daughter witnessed the aftermath of the incident when her mother was raped, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.
The Iranian refugee raped the woman several times in front of her youngest daughter, and had also threatened to run over her eldest daughter in a car (stock image)
Mohammed Ali Ahmad-Rezaei (pictured) was also found guilty of single charges of threatening to distribute an invasive image, threatening to aggravate harm and threatening a person involved in criminal proceedings.
Judge Kudekla said Ahmad-Rezaei raped the woman several times in front of her youngest daughter, with the woman covering her daughter’s eyes as she cried during her horrific ordeal.
The judge sentenced Ahmad-Rezaei, who complained of feeling alone in prison after being taken into custody last November when a jury found him guilty.
“You have sexually, physically, mentally and emotionally terrorized your victim, and you say you are isolated in prison,” Judge Kudelka said.
“She told the court that in her culture there is no value for women and that if a father or brother (sees a sex video) they can kill their daughter or sister… they can behead her, the government can stone her.
“How isolated do you think she felt?”
Ahmad-Rezaei’s victim watched the hearing via video link.
Mohammed Ali Ahmad-Rezaei (photo) will spend at least sixteen years behind bars
Judge Kudelka paid tribute to the brave victim for risking the safety of herself and her children by reporting to police in 2020 and apologized for the ‘retraumatising’ nature of her sentencing comments
“You sacrificed your own safety to protect your children…you were believed by the jury and you were believed by me,” she said.
“Thank you for doing what you did and for reporting it to the police… this final (conviction) outcome is due to your bravery and courage.”
“I know that no amount of punishment will overcome the trauma and harm you have suffered.
“I hope you find some peace in the years to come and I hope you can keep your children safe and close.”
Ahmad-Rezaei will be eligible for parole in October 2040.
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