A man who sexually assaulted two young children at his parents’ home after luring them away from a North Perth childcare centre with promises of treats and fun activities will spend at least eight years behind bars.
Vincenzo Mule enticed the four-year-old girl and five-year-old boy to follow him to a shed in the backyard of his parents’ Grosvenor Road home, where he lived, gave them icy poles and sexually abused them in April last year.
The 54-year-old, who claimed he couldn’t recall the crimes, was sentenced in the District Court of WA on Wednesday to 10 years in jail, with Judge Simon Stone saying the community needed to be protected from people with such ‘evil designs’.
n May 2016, chilling CCTV was released of the moment Mule led the children, aged four and five, away from the childcare centre on April 19
The court on Tuesday heard that the father-of-three entered the fenced area of the childcare centre, sat on a limestone wall and smoked cigarettes, which prompted staff to question him as children were present.
But they didn’t notice the 54-year-old luring the victims away.
The court heard Mule took them to his shed, gave them icy poles and sexually abused them.
He then abandoned the children at Hyde Park, where they told a woman they’d been taken there by a man they didn’t know, and she alerted authorities.
Prosecutor Maria Maddox said Mule had been watching the centre for about 20 minutes before approaching, timing it so he wouldn’t be noticed.
The girl told her mother he had slapped her across the face when she said ‘Stop, I don’t like it’ as he molested her, leaving behind scratches.
In addition to promising treats and fun activities, it was suggested Mule played a hiding game with the children.
The children had been due to pre-record their evidence for his trial on Thursday but that was aborted
‘We were hiding from the … ladies … with the big man,’ they told police.
Mr Gunning said his client had been depressed over relationship breakdowns and bereavements, hadn’t been sleeping much and could not remember the offending because he had taken medication.
‘I’m not accepting he had a memory loss,’ Judge Simon Stone said.
‘The likelihood of him feigning amnesia can’t be ruled out.’
Judge Stone said Mule, who changed his plea to guilty in January, didn’t want to discuss the underlying reason for his offending and there had to be an element of sexual gratification, which Mr Gunning accepted.
‘He can’t understand what went on that day,’ the lawyer said.
The court heard the children both described what had happened to each other, so they had witnessed everything, and their personalities had changed since that day.
The boy reported feeling like he’d let down his friend and didn’t protect her properly, Ms Maddox said.
Mule has been behind bars for 531 days and will be sentenced on Wednesday morning.