Mohammed Skaf pictures show how baby-faced rapist has aged behind bars

Pictures of notorious gang rapist Mohammed Skaf have revealed just how much has changed for him since he was locked up 21 years ago.

It has been over two decades since notorious gang rapist Mohammed Skaf was a free man, and fresh pictures of him today have revealed just how much has changed for him since he was locked up.

He was one of the rapists who – along with his older brother Bilal – led the notorious Skaf gang which pack raped and degraded six women aged between 16 and 18 years old in a rampage that horrified Australia just before the 2000 Olympics.

During the gang’s four-week reign of terror, the gang humiliated the young women by calling them “Aussie pigs” as they forced them into “doing it Leb style” and then hosed them down afterwards.

On Wednesday morning, Skaf walked free from the historic arch of Long Bay jail

— but his life looks very different to what it did when he was arrested over the crimes when he was just a teenager.

Mohammed Skaf, Bilal’s younger brother, was 17 when arrested.

He has spent more than half his life in prison.

Before he became one of Australia’s most hated criminals, Skaf was brought up by a loving family in a modest three-bedroom house in an unassuming street in southwestern Sydney.

His mother Baria worked as a cleaner and aged care worker, and his father Mustapha worked for State Rail in Sydney, gaining a good reputation among his colleagues.

They were in disbelief when they found out what their sons had done.

Details of the notorious crimes Skaf and his gang committed over two decades ago appalled Australians and when pictures first emerged of a baby-faced Skaf, the general public also couldn’t believe a young boy could be capable of such acts.

He was only 17 when he was arrested. He is now a 38-year-old who has spent more than half his life in prison, and the life he has walked out into now is very different to what it was when he was a teenager.

Convicted rapist Mohammed Skaf walks from Long Bay Correctional facility during his release in Sydney. Picture: Dylan Coker/NCA NewsWire

Surrounded by corrective services officers on Wednesday morning, Skaf barely resembled that young boy who had been locked up so many years ago.

With a white Boss brand sweatshirt, matching new white sneakers and a white face mask, he was greeted by a scrum of media when he walked free after two decades behind bars.

His family, who had brought him up with love before his crimes, were nowhere to be seen— although he is understood to be heading back to live at his parents’ home.

Skaf, 38, was finally released to serve two years in the community on parole after three previous unsuccessful release applications.

He showed no remorse for his crimes, making sexually inappropriate remarks to female staff at the Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre where he was incarcerated and continued to blame his victims for initially agreeing to go with him because “they came out with us as soon as I asked them.”

His parole was denied in February 2020, with The State Parole Authority mentioning that “it appears that he still blames the victims for his offending, has no victim empathy and refuses to take responsibility for his actions”. His parole was denied again that November.

Skaf will be subject to strict conditions. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

Now, he has been released he will be subject to strict conditions including wearing an electronic ankle monitor, and a ban on entering the LGAs of Liverpool, Fairfield, Blacktown and Parramatta where the rapes were committed.

He will live at the Greenacre house of his parents, Baria and Mustapha Skaf, and undergo counselling as directed.

The NSW State Parole Authority (SPA) found it had no other option but to release him.

Mohammed Skaf was sentenced to 22 years, 11 months and 30 days with a non-parole period of 16 years, 11 months and 30 days, which expires in January 2024.