By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A former Dandenong North man has been jailed over a frightening attempted abduction of a 13-year-old girl in a park nearly 10 years ago.
Richard Morton, 31, was arrested in Queensland in 2018 after being DNA-matched to head hair torn during the girl’s struggle and escape in Oakwood Park in Noble Park North.
He pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to making a threat to kill, attempted kidnapping and recklessly causing injury.
After 9pm on 29 October 2012, the then 21-year-old followed his victim into the park as she walked home from a friend’s house, sentencing judge Frances Dalziel said.
The girl turned to see Morton running towards her.
He put his hand over her face, and told her: “If you scream, I’ll kill you.”
Judge Dalziel said despite the threat the girl screamed, called out for help and fought free by biting his hand, pulling out his hair and kneeing his leg.
In the struggle, she suffered swelling and abrasions to her lips and neck.
As she ran away, she dropped the pulled-out hair into the grass.
That hair was later found and collected by investigating police that evening.
It became key evidence linking Morton on a national DNA database soon after he was convicted for publicly masturbating several times in Queensland in 2015-’17.
Four of the acts were in front of a child, Judge Dalziel noted.
His lewd acts had been an “attempt to manage (his) sexual urges” as well as get sexual gratification, he later told a psychologist.
As for the attempted kidnapping, Morton had said he “lashed out” after he broke up with his girlfriend, lost his job at Nando’s and his best friend moved out of his share house.
“Even accepting that is so, it does not explain why you ‘lashed out’, to use your phrase, in this manner,” Judge Dalziel said.
“This was a random attack on a young female, in a park, after dark.
“It is very concerning that your acting out on your mental and life distress was of this nature and severity.”
In recent years, Morton, a former school captain, had achieved “excellent” academic results in an ongoing double-degree in science and engineering at Queensland University of Technology.
After the “terrifying” attack, his traumatised victim became afraid to leave her home, and as a result dropped out early from school
She endured panic attacks, a fear of being followed, and still suffered depression and anxiety.
Judge Dalziel noted the kidnapping was incomplete because the victim was able to fight free “not due to your decision to desist”.
The judge could not find beyond reasonable doubt that Morton knew his victim was as young as 13 but “it must have been apparent” that she was a “younger female”.
A psychologist reported that Morton “minimised” his offending, describing it as “just a grab”, Judge Dalziel noted.
He’d shown remorse, including a letter of apology to the victim, but his insight into the cause of his offending was “not deep”.
Morton had not re-offended for five years. He was assessed as a low risk of violent re-offending.
“I accept that you have good prospects of rehabilitation, but you need to take further steps to understand and address the causes of your offending,” the judge said.
Morton was jailed for up to three years and four months.
He will be eligible for parole in two years.
