Alleged rapist Baker Dawas fronts court seeking bail

One of the former public faces of FRV involved in promoting fire safety awareness in schools is accused of raping a woman and trying to intimidate her by putting bullets in her letterbox.

Former firefighter Baker Dawas is fighting charges of rape, stalking and threatening his alleged victim.

One of the former public faces of FRV involved in promoting fire safety awareness in schools is accused of raping a woman and trying to intimidate her by putting bullets in her letterbox weeks before his trial.

Baker Dawas is fighting charges of raping a woman in a car, attempting to pervert the course of justice, intimidating a witness and stalking.

Mr Dawas worked as a firefighter in Craigieburn, at Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Service and also served as the regional adviser at the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

FRV, where he said on his LinkedIn page that he has worked at since 2021, refused to comment while a CFA spokeswoman said Mr Dawas had been on a leave of absence from his role as a CFA volunteer since March 2025.

“Now that CFA is aware of the criminal charges against Mr Dawas in accordance with the CFA’S Regulations 2014 and CFA’s procedures we have implemented a process for suspension of membership pending the court outcome.”

Details of him allegedly stalking the woman emerged as the 30-year-old made an unsuccessful bid for bail in the Supreme Court on Tuesday after two unsuccessful attempts at bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

The alleged rape happened in 2015 but police weren’t contacted until July 2021 after Mr Dawas allegedly sent a message to the woman apologising for his actions.

Former volunteer firefighter Baker Dawas is accused of intimidating a woman who had accused him of rape by putting bullets in her letterbox weeks before his trial.

In August 2021, the complainant made a pretext call to Mr Dawas in which he allegedly said he knew he had “f----d up” and wanted her to know he was sorry.

“What I did to you was rape and I’m guilty of it. I’m ashamed of it and I take full responsibility,” he allegedly said.

Justice Andrew Tinney said while on bail on the rape charge, CCTV captured Mr Dawas outside the woman’s home about 12.20am on November 14, 2024, carrying a jerry can before a neighbour approached him and started asking questions.

A week later, the woman allegedly found an envelope in her letterbox that contained a handwritten letter and two large-calibre bullets. Each bullet was inscribed in black marker with a different letter, one with a letter corresponding to the first letter of the woman’s given name and the other with a letter corresponding with the first letter of her partner’s given name.

The letter allegedly contained the words “WE WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU WE’RE WATCHING YOU! THINK ABOUT OTHERS...”.

On the same day, a woman whose daughter was listed as a witness in Mr Dawas’ trial allegedly found an envelope in her letterbox three live rounds of308 calibre ammunition, and a letter.

The handwritten letter contained the words “‘WE WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU, WE’RE ALWAYS WATCHING, THINK ABOUT YOUR FAMILY’.”

Firefighter Baker Dawas’ trial on a charge of rape will take place in the County Court.

According to his social media pages, Mr Dawas said he’s focused in fire safety awareness and promoting firefighting as a career to school kids and people from diverse backgrounds. Among his visits in the community over the years included a visit to the Australian International Academy in 2022 with the Australian Federal Police to discuss fire safety and firefighting as a profession.

In an anecdote shared on the CFA page, Mr Dawas recalled a particular call-out where Ambulance Victoria paramedics were unable to communicate with a distressed woman who attempted to re-enter her burning home, and had to be held back.

Unable to understand English, Mr Dawas was quickly able to build trust with her by communicating in their shared language.

“She was amazed I could speak to her in Arabic. It immediately made her feel much more at ease knowing she could communicate with me.”

Mr Dawas trial date in County Court is yet to be fixed.