A man accused of forcing himself into a woman’s home and threatening her with a knife before raping her on a kitchen floor has denied a string of sexual assaults in Melbourne’s outer west, including another case at a nearby school the following day.
Timothy Richards, 39, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday after being charged with two counts of rape, one count of aggravated burglary and one count of threats to kill.
Police allege he knocked on the door of a house on Whitsunday Drive, in Hoppers Crossing, on Thursday while the woman was alone and working from home.
The court heard he had been living at an ex-partner’s house nearby and had approached the property 20 minutes earlier where the pair had engaged in a brief conversation.
Richards then allegedly produced a large kitchen knife and threatened to kill the 35-year-old woman before ordering her to remove her clothes as she screamed and pleaded with him to leave.
The court heard the man, who police say was wearing a hoodie and had his face covered to conceal his identity, refused and grabbed her jacket, before dragging the woman into a nearby kitchen and sexually assaulting her.
It is alleged he then pushed the woman to the ground and raped her before getting up and walking out the front door.
The woman told investigators she eventually got up and locked the door and called her husband when she realised he had left.
Sexual crimes squad detective Aiden Verdun described the alleged assault as a “terrifying attack on a vulnerable victim in the safety of her own home”.
Richards has also been accused of another alleged sexual assault on Friday, when a woman was approached outside Mossfiel Primary School, in Langridge Street, Hoppers Crossing, about 6.45am.
Police allege the woman, who was a staff member, was outside collecting bins when a man wearing a high-vis vest attempted to engage in a conversation with her before following her into a nearby classroom.
The court heard the man placed the woman in a headlock as she fought and attempted to kick him off before he allegedly raped her.
Detectives are also investigating a third incident where a 21-year-old woman was followed and grabbed at a nearby bus stop.
The woman recalled the man as being about six feet tall and of South-East Asian appearance.
Investigators are trying to establish through DNA testing if the Hoppers Crossing incidents are linked.
Richards, who denies all the allegations against him, was arrested on Friday morning.
The court heard he was on bail for three separate matters, including charges of unlawful assault, assault with a weapon, criminal damage, and possession of methamphetamine.
He appeared during a court hearing on Saturday afternoon with his shaved head down.
He will be remanded in custody and appear before a court on November 27.
Police also attended a house in nearby Branton Road in Hoppers Crossing after a resident reported a possible burglary overnight Friday.
The 39-year-old man will return to Melbourne Magistrates Court in October.
With Ashleigh McMillan
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