Alleged rapist used ice before alleged dance school sex attack

The crisis for the state government over convicted rapist Anthony Sampieri continues to deepen as it can be revealed parole authorities knew he was using ice but did nothing. It was yet another chance to revoke his parole in the weeks before he allegedly bound and sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl.

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The crisis for the state government over convicted rapist Anthony Sampieri continues to deepen as it can be revealed parole authorities knew he was using ice but did nothing.

It was yet another chance to revoke his parole in the weeks before he allegedly bound and sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl in a Kogarah toilet last week. And it is the latest in a series of damning revelations — including that a woman alleged Sampieri had made a crude phone call to her — that have exposed serious police blunders.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller admitted Sampieri would have been behind bars had police charged him a month ago with making an obscene call. Picture: Toby Zerna

It comes with NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller admitting Sampieri would have been behind bars had police charged him a month ago with making an obscene call.

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In 2012, Sampieri, 54, pleaded guilty to luring a 60-year-old woman to his house and sexually assaulting her at knifepoint. At the time police found rope and cable ties in his bedroom.

In last week’s horrifying incident, senior police sources believe the seven-year-old girl was bound hand and foot during her 30-minute ordeal in the toilet of a dance club.

Corrective Services Minister David Elliott has called for an “urgent” briefing over the incident.

Senior police sources believe the seven-year-old girl was bound hand and foot during her 30-minute ordeal. Picture: TNV

Police late yesterday said they were reviewing the handling of the 2012 rape in Wollongong after claims that the woman was attacked while they waited to charge Sampieri with making hundreds of obscene phone calls.

When he pleaded guilty to that rape, the District Court heard that using ice made him feel “sexual” and led him into “sex binges”.

A key condition when he was released on parole a year ago was that he not use drugs.

But in September he told Community Corrections, which is part of Corrective Services NSW and manages parolees, that he was using ice.

A seven-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a Kogarah toilet last week. Picture: 9 News

“At the time, the offender was already taking part in a drug program and other professional support to manage his addiction,” a Corrective Services spokeswoman said yesterday.

“Community Corrections used their lawful discretion to not breach the offender because the drug use was self-disclosed and he was already in active treatment.”

On October 26, a woman reported an obscene phone call to Kogarah Police which was traced to Sampieri. The 54-year-old was interviewed but not charged.

Had he been charged over the phone call, parole officers would have been automatically informed and Sampieri’s parole would have been breached.

Convicted rapist Anthony Sampieri was using ice before the alleged sex assault. Picture: Damian Hoffman

The senior constable who dealt with the report of the phone call and decided not to charge Sampieri has been stood down and is “stressed and very concerned”, Mr Fuller said yesterday.

“At best the organisation potentially has failed to notify the parole board of a potential parole breach and at worst an officer has neglected their duty,” Mr Fuller said.

He said that if Sampieri had been charged, there would have been no question about whether Community Corrections would have been told.

“The first question should be was there a criminal offence and was that appropriately investigated and if there was a prima facie case for Sampieri to answer then he would have been charged criminally, bail would have been refused and he wouldn’t have been on the street,” Mr Fuller said.

“That’s the first question that a commissioner needs to ask.”

The alleged assault took place at a Sydney dance school. Picture: John Grainger

One of the women targeted by Sampieri with obscene phone calls in early October 2012 has claimed that police told her and another three of his victims that they were going to “wait a week or two” to arrest him so they could compile all of the complaints against him.

He raped the 60-year-old woman before he was charged with making those calls.

“NSW Police Force has commenced a comprehensive review of police contact with Sampieri in 2012 following concerns raised by The Daily Telegraph,” a police spokesman said yesterday.

Police Minister Troy Grant said the whole discussion made him “crook in the guts” but the investigation had to run its course and the welfare of victims needed to be of paramount concern.

“The answers will come and, rightly so, everyone will get to know that and a full explanation will be forthcoming but lets all please respect those victims,” Mr Grant said.