By TARA COSOLETO FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: 05:34 BST, 5 May 2025 | Updated: 06:17 BST, 5 May 2025

A man who sexually assaulted more than a dozen women at a Melbourne nightclub has been spared jail time.

David Maria Anthony Rayan, 35, looked forward and nodded as he was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order on Monday.

Rayan had pleaded guilty to 17 charges of sexual assault and one count of attempted sexual assault over attacks on 18 women over the course of three nights in late 2023 at Revolver Upstairs in the inner south-eastern suburb of Prahran.

CCTV footage from the nightclub showed Rayan groping his victims on the buttocks, stroking their backs and kissing them on the arms and shoulders.

Victorian County Court Judge Peter Rozen described the offending as brazen as he handed down Rayan’s sentence.

‘Your offending was deliberate and you knew what you were doing,’ he said.

Judge Rozen found Rayan’s moral culpability was considerable and that he still lacked insight into his offending, which was concerning.

But the judge accepted that his risk of reoffending was low and the crimes were out of character 

David Maria Anthony Rayan, 35, (pictured right) sexually assaulted more than a dozen women at a Melbourne nightclub has been spared jail time

David Maria Anthony Rayan, 35, (pictured right) sexually assaulted more than a dozen women at a Melbourne nightclub has been spared jail time

 The court heard that Mr Rayan’s offences followed the breakdown of his marriage and estrangement from his infant daughter.

The victims ranged from 18 years old to 48, with the judge reading out the victim impact statement from one woman who said she had left Victoria as a result so she could be closer to support. 

Rayan must complete 180 hours of unpaid community work as part of his two-year community corrections order. 

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

:
Sex pest prowled Melbourne’s Revolver Upstairs nightclub as he groped and assaulted 17 women in a series of ‘brazen attacks’

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk