Man jailed for attempted rape of teenage backpacker on Smith St

A MAN who dragged a teenage backpacker off the street and into a stairwell where he tried to rape her minutes before attacking another woman has been jailed for a minimum of almost two years

Curtis Tipungwuti, 21, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to attempted rape and indecent assault.

A MAN who dragged a teenage backpacker off the street and into a stairwell where he tried to rape her minutes before attacking another woman has been jailed for a minimum of almost two years.

Curtis Tipungwuti, 21, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to attempting to rape the 19-year-old and indecently assaulting the second woman in August last year.

The court heard the German tourist was walking along Smith Street in the early hours of August 11 when Tipungwuti started following her, getting so close he was touching her.

Tipungwuti propositioned the teenager for sex outside an apartment building and when she told him to leave her alone, he grabbed her by the crotch and demanded sex.

When the woman told him she would call police, Tipungwuti pushed her towards the building’s carpark and grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth as she started to scream.

Tipungwuti dragged the woman under a stairwell as she tried to get away before a nearby resident came out in response to her screams and ran down the stairs to confront her attacker.

Tipungwuti ran away and about 20 minutes later he approached another young woman on Smith Street and indecently assaulted her while again demanding sex.

He again grabbed the second woman outside an apartment building and tried to drag her through the gate but fearing she was about to be raped, the woman told Tipungwuti she would have sex with him at her apartment in a bid to get somewhere she could call for help.

Tipungwuti agreed and they walked towards Uncle Sam’s where the woman managed to get away and call her boyfriend and later reported the attack to police, who identified Tipungwuti on CCTV and found his DNA on her clothing.

In setting a head sentence of three years and 10 months in jail, Justice Peter Barr said testing had revealed Tipungwuti met the diagnostic criteria for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and his IQ was “in the extremely low range”.

“Whatever your impairments may have been, you were cunning and predatory in relation to the choice of victim and the choice of location,” he said.

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“At the time of offending and immediately before the time of offending, you knew that your conduct was wrong, that is why you wanted to steer your victims into dark or secluded areas.”

Tipungwuti will be eligible for parole after one year and 11 months.

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