'Inner West rapist' jailed for decades-old sex assaults

A man once dubbed the “inner west rapist” will spend the next decade behind bars after being linked to a string of attacks in the mid-2000s through family DNA.

Darren Kennedy was sentenced to a non-parole period of 13 years for sexually assaulting four women in suburban Sydney between December 2003 and March 2004.

The 54-year-old watched on via a video-link as Judge Jennie Girdham handed down her sentence at Downing Centre District Court on Friday.

Kennedy pleaded guilty in May 2023 to a string of offences, including multiple counts of breaking and entering, rape and indecent assault.

Judge Girdham included a separate offence of possession of child abuse material in her sentence after 174 videos and 43 images were found on his phone following his arrest.

A police strike force was established in March 2004 to investigate attacks spread across a range of suburbs, including Croydon and Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west and Bondi in the east.

But the probe was suspended in 2005 after they were unable to track the offender down.

Three of the women were attacked in their homes, while another had been on her way to her house when she was assailed at night.

The case was reopened in February 2020 and a forensic review in November 2021 traced the attacks to Kennedy through a family DNA match to matter retrieved from several of the crime scenes.

He was arrested at his home five days later and has remained in custody ever since.

All of the victims, who ranged in age from 17 to 51, were vulnerable and unable to defend themselves, Judge Girdham said.

They were left “humiliated and degraded” in the attacks, she added.

“The offending was abhorrent - it was cruel and dehumanising,” Judge Girdham said.

“To reflect the actual harm caused (in a sentence) imposes an impossible task.”

In victim-impact statements, some of the women variously described struggling with post-traumatic stress and ongoing problems with trusting people 20 years later.

In a letter addressed to the court, Kennedy apologised to the victims, describing his own actions as “deplorable and monstrous” and adding that his thoughts were “ragged and broken” at the time of the offences.

Judge Girdham noted that Kennedy was struggling to cope with his own traumatic past of childhood abuse and that his earlier experiences distorted his views of sexuality.

Kennedy was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years and four months in prison. He will be eligible for parole in November 2034.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636