Lorne rapist Gregory Challenger sentenced for 1986 attack

A Bannockburn grandfather found guilty of the 1986 rape of a woman on a Lorne beach has been sentenced at County Court.

A MAN who led the brutal gang rape of a young woman in Lorne during the 1980s could walk from jail within seven years.

Gregory John Challenger was sentenced at the County Court in Melbourne on Wednesday after previously being found guilty on three counts of aggravated rape.

In the early hours of New Year’s Day in 1986, Challenger – then aged 23 – was one of four men who attacked a 21-year-old woman as she sat on a Lorne beach with a friend.

A jury found the Bannockburn man guilty of orally raping the victim before dragging her over a barbed-wire fence and holding her down while another unknown offender penetrated her vagina and mouth.

Sentencing judge Liz Gaynor jailed Challenger for a maximum of 10 years, with a non-parole period of seven years.

She said the 56-year-old had shown no remorse for his crimes and had subjected the victim to the “trauma” of giving evidence in court.

“This was a terrible crime. It was a brutal gang rape,” Judge Gaynor said.

“The offending was terrifying, humiliating, degrading and violent.

“It was, in my view, a serious example of a serious crime.”

READ THE SENTENCING REMARKS

Challenger was not a suspect in the rape until a DNA sample taken in 2015 hit a match with semen stains from the victim’s jumper that had been stored for almost 30 years.

After the victim identified him as the main culprit from a photo board, Challenger was arrested in March 2016 by cold case detectives at a house in Bell Post Hill.

During his trial last month, the former strip club bouncer took to the witness box in his defence to state he was at a party in South Geelong at the time of the rape, however a jury rejected his claim.

Gregory Challenger leaves Geelong court.

Challenger was, however, acquitted on a lesser charge of attempted aggravated rape.

The victim followed Wednesday’s sentencing from a remote facility and had earlier provided a statement to the court detailing the effect the crimes have had on her.

She described the attack as the worst event of her life and that she had never lost the feeling of being unsafe.

“I tell people I get claustrophobic because it’s easier than explaining why I don’t always cope well with being jostled in a crowd, being surrounded by people I don’t know,” she wrote.

“Social events are tiring when you’re ‘on alert’ always knowing where the exit is, but I persevere because I actually really enjoy meeting and talking with people.

“I’ll leave before the end because I don’t want to ever be left alone at the end of the night.”

The woman said she recalled Challenger punching her at the beginning of the attack as a “most vivid memory” and one that woke her from nightmares.

Judge Gaynor described Challenger’s actions as “appalling” but said it was conceded by the prosecution that the father of three had largely rehabilitated himself since the offending.

She said she also had to take into account Challenger’s health issues which would make prison more onerous on him compared to other inmates.

Challenger showed little emotion before being led from the courtroom.

He will be eligible for parole in May 2026.

Originally published as Lorne rapist Gregory Challenger sentenced for 1986 attack