Isaach Richard Lloyd Roma jailed for attempted child abduction in Margate

“It’s my turn”, an insidious intruder said as he terrorised multiple family homes, trying to abduct young girls amid a shocking sexually charged spree.

A former hospitality worker has tried to abduct two young girls from their own bedrooms and sexually assault them while claiming it was “now his turn”, with their relatives the only things stopping his attacks.

A former hospitality worker tried to abduct two young girls from their own bedrooms and sexually assault them while claiming it was “now his turn”, only to be wrestled by frightened family members.

Isaach Richard Lloyd Roma’s “brazen” spree of offending unfolded at Margate on the night of March 7, 2024, published sentencing remarks from Brisbane District Court have revealed.

In the remarks Judge Jennifer Rosengren said Roma tried to take the first girl, aged under 10, while she was laying on her bed playing with her phone about 8pm.

She said Roma, who did not know the girl, initially stood outside her family’s unit asking if anyone had seen his own daughter.

When two of the girl’s relatives in the unit told Roma they had not seen her, he then opened their front door, walked through their lounge room, and into the girl’s bedroom.

She tried to cover her face against his attack and, when Roma failed to pull her hands away, he instead tried to drag her off the bed and out of the room.

Judge Rosengren said his intent when entering the unit was to have sexual intercourse with the girl.

Her relatives managed to wrestle Roma back out of their home while he was shouting and “not making sense” about his own daughter and “the occupants not wanting to shoot you”.

Roma then ran up the street entering other units including the home of a woman whom he did know and threatened to rape.

She told him to leave, at which point he tried to break into another unit through its sliding patio door telling its occupant he “wanted the little one on the scooter”, an item the child living there did not actually own.

At the unit next door where a pre-teen girl who did own a scooter lived, Roma first rattled the door and then tapped on her bedroom window, telling her to open it.

When the girl’s mother told Roma he had the wrong house he became angry and aggressive and tried to open the door.

Judge Rosengren said Roma claimed at one point his own daughter had been attacked and it “was only fair you got your turn”.

Isaach Richard Lloyd Roma’s “brazen” spree of offending unfolded at Margate on the night of March 7, 2024, published sentencing remarks from Brisbane District Court have revealed. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

Roma was finally wrestled to the ground at which point he said he “had a shot of ice”, “felt horny” and “felt like raping someone”.

He was taken to Redcliffe Hospital where he refused to comply with police, ripped off his hospital monitoring equipment, pushed a chair through a wall, and tried to flee the building before being tackled to the ground again.

Roma’s criminal history including previous sexual offending and deprivation of liberty against a young woman, Judge Rosengren said.

In this case he tried to sexually assault the woman who he had met while visiting her home with friends.

He returned to her home about 3am claiming he was looking for his speaker and then attacked her while she was in bed.

It ended only after she headbutted him in the chin.

Judge Rosengren said Roma had grown up in a “prejudicial” background, was physically abused as a child, and had been “abusing” substances including marijuana, meth, and petrol and paint inhalants since his early teenage years.

Roma pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to take a child for immoral purposes, two counts of burglary including one with violence, a count of attempted burglary with violence, one count of sexual assault, as well as charges of entering a dwelling, obstructing police, attempting to escape custody, and wilful damage.

Roma “swiftly” returned to using drugs upon his release on parole in March 2024 and had been affected by them at the time of this offending, Judge Rosengren said.

He had worked several jobs including as a gardener, concreter, meatworker, and in hospitality.

His son died from a congenital heart condition when he was about nine months old, and his daughter was now living with other family members in the Gympie region.

Judge Rosengren said Roma had been hearing voices in his head at the time of his offending, and although he had been under the care of mental health experts in prison he did “continue to hear voices”.

A psychologist said a full assessment of Roma could not be done at the time but according to the provisional finding he was a “high risk of future violence and future sexual violence”, with the risk lower in the immediate future.

Roma pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to take a child for immoral purposes, two counts of burglary including one with violence, a count of attempted burglary with violence, one count of sexual assault, as well as charges of entering a dwelling, obstructing police, attempting to escape custody, and wilful damage.

He was sentenced to six years’ jail and will be eligible for parole on May 25, 2026.