By Sarah McPhee and Daniel Lo Surdo
Warning: Graphic content
The case against an alleged serial rapist accused of targeting more than a dozen young women can be revealed after a bid to keep his identity a secret for 20 years was fought by this masthead.
Prosecutors claim Anthony Stevo Glumac was fascinated with “rape porn” and used social media to meet vulnerable women before he allegedly committed a series of violent and degrading attacks in Sydney and Wollongong in the years leading up to his arrest in December 2020.
Anthony Glumac is on trial accused of sexual offences against multiple women.Credit: Nine News
Glumac’s judge-alone trial began on Monday, but an interim non-publication order made last week prevented him from being identified as the alleged perpetrator. Glumac wanted his name and image protected for up to two decades, claiming he was assaulted in custody following past media coverage.
Lawyers for The Sydney Morning Herald and the Crown opposed a permanent order at a hearing in Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday afternoon, arguing there was no evidence Glumac’s self-reported assaults had resulted in injury, and that any risk to him could be mitigated.
Judge Michael Smith on Thursday morning declined to protect the accused’s identity and was not satisfied the non-publication order was necessary.
The judge said there was “insufficient evidence to allow me to conclude the risk of harm is imminent”, and that suppressing Glumac’s name would mark a “very significant interference with the principles of open justice”.
Tendency for ‘rough sexual acts’
Glumac, who grew up in Picton and previously worked at a gym, has pleaded not guilty to 45 charges against 17 alleged victims from January 2014 to December 2020.
The 29-year-old is accused of repeated acts of sexual intercourse without consent, aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm, indecent assault, choking, intimidation and sexual touching.
The Crown claims Glumac identified emotionally or physically vulnerable women, including those who had health or relationship troubles, and made unsolicited conversation over Facebook, Tinder and Snapchat before meeting up in isolated locations or in vehicles.
Glumac has been in custody since his arrest in Campbelltown in December 2020. Credit: NSW Police
In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Mark Hay alleged Glumac had a sexual interest in “rough sexual acts”, a “distinct and obvious interest in rape porn”, and a tendency for sexual conduct with women “after repeatedly being told that they did not want to”.
He alleged Glumac had a propensity for male dominance and that the “thoughts and feelings” of the women engaged in the sexual activity were secondary considerations, “if considerations at all”. After one alleged rape, Glumac allegedly told the woman he was “teaching her how not to let people treat her”.
Hay anticipated another complainant would give evidence that she said, “I don’t want to do this”, to which Glumac allegedly replied, “All the girls want this.”
He alleged Glumac asked his sexual partners to call him “Daddy” and put his hand around their throats, in some cases applying force so they could not breathe.
The court heard one woman was expected to say Glumac ran a steak knife along her throat and then slapped her in the face.
The prosecutor said the women were mostly unknown to each other and “had no possible way to know what each was going to say”, but their allegations about Glumac’s behaviour were “so strikingly similar as to be beyond a coincidence”. Each complainant was “powerful” evidence, but together they had cumulative weight, he added.
The court heard Glumac allegedly took photos and videos of people he had sex with, and his phone contained a “very large number of images” of him engaging in sexual acts with young women.
Hay said the Crown could not say whether any of the complainants were depicted in the images, but expected some would give evidence that they “saw a flash” during their alleged sexual contact.
The court heard the majority of complainants came forward after a police media release about Glumac’s arrest, when prosecutors say the “true extent of the alleged offending” became known.
Glumac’s barrister Luke Brasch chose not to give an opening address, but the Crown anticipated there would be dispute over whether acts took place, whether they occurred in the way alleged by the complainants, and the subject of consent.
‘No evidence’ of threats or violence
Glumac, through his lawyers, alleged he had been assaulted three times by fellow inmates while on remand and claimed threats to his safety intensified whenever there was media coverage.
In opposing Glumac’s application to conceal his identity, executive counsel for the Herald, Larina Alick, argued his request was predicated on the idea that Corrective Services was “incapable” of protecting him in custody, where he has been held for more than four years.
‘People do face rape trials and murder trials in NSW courts without having non-publication orders over their name and photos of them.’
Larina Alick, Herald executive counsel
Alick said there was no imminent threat, and while he had an “understandable fear” it amounted to no more than a mere belief of future harm.
She said there was an “insufficient link” between past news reports and the confrontations raised by Glumac, which required no medical care and were not reported to authorities.
“People do face rape trials and murder trials in NSW courts without having non-publication orders over their name and photos of them,” Alick said. In the interests of open justice, an order should only be made in exceptional circumstances, she said.
Prosecutor Shannon Richards argued there was no evidence supporting Glumac’s claims of death threats or extortion, nor the three alleged assaults. He said the threshold of necessity for an order had not been reached.
Glumac’s trial is estimated to run over a number of months.
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