Victorian man jailed for 17 years over rape, beatings of Dutch backpacker

Judge describes Alfio Anthony Granata’s treatment of 21-year-old victim over two months as vile, repulsive and dehumanising

Culled from Guardian

A man who kept a Dutch backpacker captive for two months in a Melbourne hotel room, where he subjected her to savage rapes and beatings, has been jailed for 17 years.

Alfio Anthony Granata carved a cross into the forehead of his victim, then 21, with a knife and told her she was marked for death.

The 47-year-old pleaded guilty to nine counts of rape and charges of theft, threats to kill and intentionally causing serious injury that left his victim with 54 bruises and abrasions.

In the Victorian county court on Monday, judge Frank Gucciardo said Granata’s behaviour was vile and repulsive and had dehumanised his victim.

“The victim was in constant pain,” Gucciardo said, jailing Granata for a minimum of 13 years.

“She was degraded and humiliated.”

He said the victim was a vulnerable young woman who was separated from her family and friends.

At one point during the ordeal in November and December 2012, the victim was beaten so badly she was unable to see or eat.

She was whipped with a mobile phone charger, which left lacerations and ripped her skin off, and she was sexually assaulted with household items and told she would be killed.

On one occasion Granata took the victim and his then-girlfriend by the hair and smashed their heads together, causing the 21-year-old’s nose to break.

The victim was also forced to perform oral sex on Granata, was strangled, stabbed and cut.

Granata conducted a ritual that involved putting a photograph of the victim into an envelope along with her hair, nail clippings and blood, telling her the act symbolised her being no more.

He said all that would be left of the victim was what was in the envelope.

The victim’s nightmare came to an end on 24 December, when she struck Granata with a knife and began to cut herself until an ambulance was called.

Granata told police the victim was a troublemaker and he had been drugged by her.

In a victim impact statement, the young woman said she had become anxious and depressed and suffered post traumatic stress disorder.

She was frequently assailed by memories that left her barely able to function, she said, adding that the injuries inflicted on her remained painful.

Granata, a father of three, was convicted of all charges, including two drugs charges.

He has already served 836 days of pre-sentence detention.

His defence barrister, Peter Chadwick, argued during the plea hearing that the offending was linked to Granata’s two-grams-a-day ice addiction.

Gucciardo said there was no reduced moral culpability because the abuse was ongoing and Granata would have experienced clear moments and periods of lucidity.

He said Granata’s remorse was superficial and “very slight indeed”, and described his actions as “akin to torture over a protracted period”.