The vile grub who raped an elderly grandmother in her own bed will not be placed on the sex offender register list after no application was made by prosecutors.
Aged care worker Simon Prodanovich, 59, was on Thursday sentenced to eight years in jail, with a non-parole period of five years and six months for his horrific attack on the 82-year-old in the home she’d lived in for 60 years.
But despite the devastating affect the attack has had on the woman – including making her afraid of men – the Office of Public Prosecutions chose not to request Prodanovich be placed on the sex offenders register.
Such a request is usually routine in such ‘despicable’ cases of rape.
The sickening attack has changed the woman’s life and she now lives in fear of all men.
The case shocked Australia after it was first exposed by Daily Mail Australia on Monday weeks into the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Simon Prodanovich, 59, raped an elderly grandmother in her own bed. He wheeled her sick husband out of the room before pouncing on the helpless woman
A royal commission into aged care has been running in Australia for weeks. The commission has heard a series of shocking examples of elder abuse by carers
County Court of Victoria Judge Susan Pullen expressed some dismay at the omission, but nevertheless agreed to it, declaring she did believe Prodanovich would ever try to work in aged care again.
One of the core functions of the sex offenders register is to reduce the likelihood of registered sex offenders re-offending in the community, assist the investigation and prosecution of any future offences; and prevent sex offenders from working in child-related employment or volunteer duties.
Prodanovich, of Springvale, had only been in the aged-care business for a little over a year when he pounced on his helpless victim.
He showed no emotion as Judge Pullen recounted the agony he had put his victim and her family through.
Yet when she spoke of his own wretched upbringing, he reached for tissues to wipe the tears from his eyes.
It was a tale of his dad clobbering him when he was 14 for a ‘dishonest act’ that brought him to tears.
The court heard his dad was not alive today to see what an ‘appalling act’ his son is now convicted of.
Prodanovich was supposed to be helping the fragile woman’s husband, who suffers a variety of ailments and is confined to a wheelchair.
The couple had been married for more than 60 years and lived most of their years together in their Mount Waverley home where the attack happened.
The mother-of-three had been her husband’s carer, although she was hardly in good health herself.
Prodanovich had been employed by Omni-Care, which boasts online that its carers help ‘maintain the quality of life, dignity and independence of people living in our community who are elderly, disabled or who have serious medical conditions’.
On January 12, Prodanovich entered the unlocked home of his victim and gave her husband a sponge bath.
The fiercely independent couple had been loathe to allow carers into their home, but conceded to their daughters’ wishes so they wouldn’t need to go into an aged care facility.
When done, his victim mentioned she needed her medications to help with her legs.
Prodanovich told her to forget about the meds and that a massage would help.
He wheeled her husband into the lounge room and when he returned began to massage the trusting woman.
What happened next was the stuff of nightmares, with Prodanovich raping the terrified woman, who begged him to stop.
Simon Prodanovich, had only been in the aged-care business for a little over a year when he pounced on his helpless victim
Prodanovich had been employed by Omni-Care, which boasts online that its carers help ‘maintain the quality of life, dignity and independence of people living in our community who are elderly, disabled or who have serious medical conditions’
He fled the house and the police were called into investigate.
When questioned days later, Prodanovich came armed with a prepared statement.
He indignantly denied the allegations, describing his victim’s complaint as ‘fabricated’ and ‘totally false’.
But he didn’t stop there, going so far as to say the elderly woman had made the complaint in ‘revenge’ for him refusing to rub lotion on her.
He said he was ‘gobsmacked’ that a woman of her age would ‘slander’ him.
Prodanovich maintained his cruel facade right up until he knew he could no longer deny it.
DNA he had left from injuries within his victim revealed the grubby truth and Prodanovich confessed.
The father of a daughter himself, Prodanovich could give no explanation for his offending, telling a psychiatrist it was a ‘brain fade’.
His victim’s daughters faced him in court at his pre-sentence plea hearing where they read out heart breaking impact statements on the devastating effects his attack had had on their mother.
‘I felt really fooled and betrayed,’ their mum wrote.
She told the court she now feared all men and was frightened to be treated by any male nurse or doctor.
She feared taxi drivers and criticised Omni-Care for its handling of her care.
‘I remember what happened and sometimes cry,’ she stated.
Barrister Ian Crisp said his client, Simon Prodanovich, had no explanation for his offending other than describing it as a ‘brain fade’
Simon Prodanovich’s victim (not pictured) is now too scared to be in the company of strange men. It has seen her go home too early from hospital and collapse at home alone
County Court of Victoria Judge Susan Pullen will hand down her sentence on Simon Prodanovich on Thursday. He is expected to get a jail term somewhere close to 10 years
Her daughters told the court their mum had been a strong, sociable and independent woman before the attack.
She had ‘taken a leap of faith’ in accepting carers into her home and she no longer had the trust for them that had taken seven years to build.
Since then, she had struggled to care for her husband, who needed to be placed in respite care.
‘Be very careful whom you let into your home and life,’ her daughter warned.
‘Mum must now live with this brutal and merciless touch,’ another said.
County Court Judge Susan Pullen was scathing in her assessment of Prodanovich.
‘Your offending behaviour was nothing short of appalling, reprehensible and repulsive,’ she said.
She pulled no punches at his pre-sentence plea.
‘Your own expert described it as despicable,’ she said. ‘It’s downright grubby … What we’re dealing with here is absolutely appalling. It’s effectively wrecked her life.’
Judge Pullen further condemned Prodanovich for his earlier denials before DNA caught him out.
‘He was gonna give it a run,’ she said. ‘And then after his denials he makes a self-serving statement.’
Judge Pullen said there were numerous aggravating factors, including the fact he was her carer and breached the trust of his victim and her husband.
‘There is no doubt the impact has been enormous,’ she said.