Melbourne Latin dance promoter Abdul ‘Danny’ Jalloh found guilty of raping woman at her home

A Melbourne Latin dance night promoter raped a woman after gifting his victim with drink cards at a Crown Club 23 event.

Abdul Jalloh was found guilty of raping a woman. Picture: Facebook

A Latin dance night promoter who raped a woman at her home after a Crown Casino Club 23 outing has been jailed.

Abdul “Danny” Jalloh, 39, was sentenced in the County Court on Wednesday to a minimum three years and nine months’ jail after he was found guilty of rape.

Jalloh met his victim then added her to a Facebook group where he shared flyers advertising the Latin dance nights that he organised at various Melbourne night clubs.

The victim attended a Latin dance event at Club 23 on where Jalloh was host in late-2017.

The court heard Jalloh the victim with a drink card and access to VIP areas.

Jalloh and the victim walked along the Yarra River, before catching a taxi back to the woman’s Southbank apartment.

The victim recalled Jalloh was “getting handsy” shortly after arriving at the apartment.

“No, that’s not happening,” the victim said.

“This isn’t happening because you’re married.”

Jalloh then got naked and forced himself on the victim.

“No, please stop," the victim said.

The fiend ignored his victim’s desperate pleas and raped her.

The victim told Jalloh she had cameras in her apartment in a ploy to make the fiend leave.

Jalloh fled his victim’s apartment and deleted her on Facebook while in the taxi home.

The victim sat on the floor naked and crying.

She eventually asked a friend for support and reported Jalloh to police.

Judge Mark Gamble said he had “no doubts” the victim had “nothing more in mind than a drink with a friend” when she invited him back to her apartment.

“She never harboured any romantic interest towards (Jalloh) and simply regarded him as a friend,” Judge Gamble said.

The victim, who read her impact statement to the court, said Jalloh left her “traumatised”.

She said the rape “changed her life forever” and “robbed her of her time to enjoy her life”.

“I constantly relive the trauma, and it has left a lasting impact on my relationships …,” she said.

“I constantly live in fight or flight mode … I had pain … it felt like I’d been hit by a truck … I couldn't pick myself up from the shower floor; I felt emotionally weak.

“I did not feel safe in my apartment where I was raped (and) I had to make plans to move somewhere safer …

“I didn't know who I could trust around me ever … what (Jalloh) took from me will never be able to replaced, I’ll never be the same woman that I was but I can actually heal after telling my truth, I wish I could go back in time and never had met this man … how different my life will be.”

The court heard Jalloh was a married family man with “impeccable character” who worked in the diamond industry, including at a Chapel St jeweller.

The defence submitted Jalloh also worked for his Latin dance promotion business which spruiked events throughout Melbourne.

Judge Gamble was forced to halt today’s sentencing and a plea hearing heard earlier this month after Jalloh sobbed loudly via his videolink from Hopkins Correctional on both occasions.

The rapist broke down after the court heard a reference incorporated the “thoughts” of Jalloh’s 12-year-old son who had “lost his father”.

Jalloh, who held his head in his hands, begged to be allowed to see his family again.

Jalloh submitted 12 references from family members, employers and friends some of which said the rapist’s character, bar the current offending, was “unequivocally good”.

Many of the references also referred to Jalloh being “remorseful” to the crime.

Judge Gamble said Jalloh was not remorseful in the traditional use of the phrase commonly used in criminal cases, to which Jalloh’s lawyer agreed.

“He is not remorseful in the classic sense that lawyers are used to speaking of, but he regrets the situation happened … and that his behaviour has put him in the position he is now in,” the defence submitted.

Jalloh was jailed for a maximum six years.