Aron Goodrem: Victims face their evil abuser in court
Four women who were detained, raped and beaten by a man have relived the hellish experience in court. One told how the 30-year-old punched her, stubbed out cigarettes on her and threatened her with a machete. Another said she considered the only escape from him was suicide.
Central Sydney
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Four women detained, bashed, raped and tortured by the same “evil” man have faced their tormentor in court, with one describing how she was made to feel like a “caged animal”.
Aron Goodrem can expect a long stint behind bars for inflicting years of abuse on six victims who lived in fear of death, were held against their will and cut off from their families.
With face tattoos visible amid a thick, brown beard, the former Central Coast landscaper sat slumped in the dock at Darlinghurst Courthouse, refusing to look up as the women relived their traumatic experiences before a packed gallery on Monday.
One victim, who told the court she had felt suicide was the “only way” to escape Goodrem, spoke of how she was punched, had lit cigarettes stubbed out on her arm and threatened with a machete.
“Aron scarred my body, bruised me and made me bleed,” she said.
Another told Judge John Pickering how she was convinced by Goodrem that her family and friends did not care where she was.
The now 30-year-old appeared “charming” at first, one woman said, but she now realised that was part of his “grooming process”.
Goodrem would pick out her clothes, physically dress her, wash her hair and apply deodorant to her.
She recalled running down the street in only her underpants after finally escaping him.
“I had no control over my life,” she said. “I felt like a caged animal. I was an object to him.”
Former ice-addict Goodrem was arrested following a six-month investigation by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad, for crimes committed across western Sydney and Parkes in NSW’s central west between 2009 and 2017.
First charged with 54 offences in December 2018, he pleaded guilty to 16 charges including sexual intercourse without consent, assault occasion actual bodily harm, common assault and intimidation.
Goodrem’s sister Danielle Bennett gave evidence before the court that the family was exposed to “extensive” domestic violence at the hands of their father.
She said her brother was kidnapped from school by his abusive dad, who once threw their mother from a moving car, and for several years stalked the family once they escaped.
Ms Bennett offered Goodrem a place to stay should he be released from custody.
But that appeared unlikely, with Judge Pickering apologising to the victims and their supporters present at court for not being able to deliver a sentence, saying it was “impossible” to do at short notice given the extent of the offending.
“The sentence is going to be lengthy, obviously,” he said.
Goodrem will be sentenced on April 8.