Bruno Presta: Punchbowl convicted rapist breaches terms of release

A convicted rapist jailed for 14 years after drugging and sexually assaulting young men at gunpoint, and filming the crimes, has admitted to breaching the terms of his release.

A convicted rapist jailed for drugging and sexually assaulting multiple young boys has been pulled back into court after breaking the terms of his release.

Bruno Presta, 53, of Punchbowl, was under strict conditions to not take any medication without a prescription as part of his release from prison in 2016, after a series of rapes in Liverpool in the 1990s.

Over an eight-month period in 1997, Bruno Presta targeted young males aged 15-21.

In each case, Presta used a gun to threaten his victims into complying with his instructions, after which they were driven to his home and drugged, bound and sexually assaulted for several hours, a PHD dissertation describing his crimes reveals.

The assaults were videotaped by Presta, and the tapes were discovered by police and used later in court. After Presta had completed his assaults he would dump his victims at a different location to where they were kidnapped.

Bruno Presta used a gun to force victims into his car, after which he drugged and sexually assaulted them at his home.

He was charged after he tested positive to Valium, a benzodiazepine which can be used for date rape, and pleaded guilty to the breach in Bankstown Local Court.

Presta’s Legal Aid lawyer noted his criminal past when making a bail application on July 12 in Bankstown Local Court, but said it was behind him.

“Since then there has been very little in terms of offending.”

But Magistrate Glenn Walsh pointed out to the court, “It’s because he’s been in jail for the whole time.”

Presta’s lawyer said her client took a whole packet of Valium in an attempt to kill himself, one morning in early July, but Mr Walsh was incredulous of the claim.

“I don’t accept for one moment that he had the whole pack of Valium,” Mr Walsh said.

“He’s also had hillbilly heroin in the past. He’s trying to gild the lily.

“It’s the worst thing to do before me because I’m not a fool. I’ve done this for a long time.”

Mr Walsh pointed out that if Presta had taken a whole packet of Valium, he would have been hospitalised, struggling to breathe, and potentially never wake up again.

Mr Walsh told the court Presta was ordered by a Supreme Court Justice to not take drugs like Valium, because of his past convictions for drugging and raping multiple young people.

“He was sentenced to 14 years and four months because of that,” Mr Walsh said.

Presta’s lawyer told the court her client is a full-time carer for his 80-year-old mother, who has serious health issues, and that he was taking Valium to deal with his mental health state.

That was a factor that counted against Presta, the court heard, as Mr Walsh said he had every opportunity to get the Valium prescribed by a doctor during visits.

“He knows that, he’s nobody’s fool,” Mr Walsh said. “You don’t survive 14 years in custody unless you learn some smarts.”

Presta was convicted of the breach after pleading guilty, and placed on a 12-month community corrections order.