‘Family man’ Leonard Levett jailed for two violent ‘90s rapes after 2010 attack left a crucial clue

A TRUCKIE who lived a double life as a committed family man has been jailed for the violent random rapes of a schoolgirl and young nurse in the 1990s.

JUSTICE has finally been served to a remorseless rapist who almost got away with two terrifying attacks on young women in the 90s — until his preying on a teenager in 2010 provided the clue to his undoing.

County Court judge Barbara Cotterell said 50-year-old serial sex offender Leonard Levett — described by his wife, children and friends as a committed family man and successful businessman — must have two completely different sides to his personality.

Judge Cotterell said the "heartless disregard" he showed an 18-year-old schoolgirl and 21-year-old nursing graduate during "random and violent rapes" in 1992 and 1996 did not accord with him being a loving and protective parent to his two children.

It was not until almost two decades later that the North Dandenong truck driver was linked back to the cold case crimes, after being convicted of two counts of an indecent act with a child in 2010.

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Although he avoided jail for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old girl, Levett's DNA sample was taken and later matched to hair and cigarette butt crime scene samples stored in a police freezer since the 90s.

Judge Cotterell — in sentencing Levett to 13 years' imprisonment — said the vicious rapes by a complete stranger were shocking examples of the sexual attacks that parents dread and women are warned about and fear from their teens.

In April 1992, Levett, aged in his late 20s, jumped out of bushes and attacked a teen hitchhiker he had only just dropped off, dragging her over branches and scrub to a clearing off Lower Dandenong Road, where he raped her.

Despite his claims at trial that the Year 12 student had instigated the sexual contact and then lied about it, he was found guilty by a jury of two counts of rape.

In a separate trial, a jury found him guilty of a further two rape charges despite his claims he was not present on the morning of August 26, 1996, when a 21-year-old who was walking her dog along the Yarra Trail in Kew was raped at knifepoint.

The judge said Levett showed a "total lack of remorse" for the abhorrent crimes, which had lasting effects on the women, who were in their prime, as well as their families and friends.

A forensic psychologist found Levett had a moderate to high risk of reoffending and needed to undergo a program for violent sex offenders as soon as possible.

Judge Cotterell said protecting the community from the serious sex offender was her main concern, as well as sending a message to others who sought to overpower and sexually assault women with their brute strength or weapons.

Levett, who has spent little more than a month in custody, must serve nine-and-a-half years before being eligible for parole.