by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Dandenong serial rapist has had his current jail term extended after being convicted of child sexual abuse in the 1980s.
Leonard Levett, 59, is nine years into a prison sentence for violent sexual attacks on two female strangers in the 1990s. He was to be eligible for parole in a year’s time.
In the latest case, Levett was found guilty in the Victorian County Court of multiple sexual offences against three girls.
He repeatedly preyed upon them while he worked as a nightwatchman at children’s care homes, sentencing judge Anne Hassan noted on 18 August.
At the time aged 20-22, his offences included three counts of rape as well as several counts of indecent assault and sexual penetration of a person aged 10-16.
Judge Hassan acquitted Levett of some of the latter charges.
The judge believed the allegations occurred but said she wasn’t satisfied one of the victims was under 16 at the time.
In sentencing, the judge noted that police declined to charge Levett after one of the girls reported his abuses in 1991.
Under the law at the time, children’s allegations required corroboration. It was an “entirely unjust outcome”, rather than an exoneration, Judge Hassan noted.
It was also a time in which Levett and the community-at-large didn’t appreciate the “devastating consequences” of child sexual abuse, she said.
The victims told the court of “profoundly damaging and enduring” impacts.
One said how she thought she’d be cared for at the home, but was subjected to “relentless” sexual abuse from perpetrators including Levett.
She felt like a “prostitute”, reliving the pain year after year.
A disability pensioner, she had been hospitalised many times under psychiatric treatment. The cost had been “life-long”, she stated.
Another of the women contemplated suicide on a daily basis and turned to drugs to cope.
She could never trust men in relationships since. Levett was only interested in her for sex, she stated.
Judge Hassan said Levett had lived a “double life” as a husband and father-of-two with four previous convictions for rape.
In 2013, he faced charges at Dandenong Magistrates Court of failing to comply with his obligations as a registered sex offender.
The following year, he was jailed in the County Court for up to 13 years for two “egregious examples of rape by a stranger” in the 1990s, Judge Hassan noted.
He was charged with the attacks after DNA matches two decades later.
In a trial in which one of the survivors was repeatedly labelled a “liar” under cross-examination, the judge at the time noted Levett’s “abhorrent and total lack of remorse”.
His prison term was extended by 18 months with a 2016 conviction for an indecent act with a child.
In this case, Levett still had not since shown real insight or remorse, Judge Hassan found.
His own childhood was marked by violence, abuse and illiteracy but this didn’t contribute to his repeated offending, she said.
Despite these difficulties, he still became a state champion junior cyclist and a successful businessperson. He had a long marriage, and no substance abuse issues.
A psychologist opined that Levett had “acted out” due to feelings of inadequacy stemming from his own childhood abuse.
Judge Hasan said this was “no explanation, let alone an excuse” for his multiple “predatory” and “opportunistic” abuses.
Levett’s risk of re-offending was however low, given his advancing age, the judge said.
He was convicted as a serious sexual offender and jailed for 13 years for this offending.
The judge extended his existing jail term to 21 years, with a non-parole period of 16 years. He’ll be eligible for parole in 2030.
He will be a registered sexual offender for life.
