Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised to deport an Iraqi man who indecently assaulted a three-year-old girl at a Western Sydney shopping mall.
Security guard Mohammad Hassan Al Bayati, 30, touched the young girl’s underwear and exposed himself during the 11 minutes they were in a stairwell — away from surveillance cameras — at DFO Homebush a week before Christmas in 2016.
Speaking to Sunrise this morning, the PM said Al Bayati had “abused” Australia’s generosity.
“This bloke has no right to be here. He’s abused the generosity of a country that gave him a new start and it is absolutely appalling,” he said.
NSW District Court Judge John Pickering jailed the guard on Tuesday for four-and-a-half years with a minimum of two-and-a-half years, saying that the girl had been “quite remarkable” to report the crimes.
However, it’s now understood that Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton will today formally begin the process of cancelling Al Bayati’s visa.
The Prime Minister told The Daily Telegraph last night that Al Bayati “has not only committed an appalling crime against an innocent child but against the country that gave him refuge and a new life”.
Earlier this year a NSW District Court jury found Bayati exposed his penis and touched the girl’s underwear during 11 minutes away from surveillance cameras.
Responding to a report the girl was unattended and distressed at the centre’s playground, Al Bayati took her by the hand to the stairwell just before 1.30pm.
Eleven minutes later, after receiving sexual gratification, he walked her back to the playground where her seven-year-old sister was crying because she couldn’t find her younger sibling.
The mother, having returned from shopping, was also waiting there and was quickly berated by Al Bayati.
“The gall of the offender to lecture the mother about the dangers and risks of leaving her in the play area when he ended up being the greatest risk is one of the most curious parts in this matter,” Judge Pickering said.
“Any mother should be entitled to leave their children in a busy shopping centre and not have any belief or expectation that someone who is actually there to look after the interests of people shopping in the centre will then create harm in themselves.”
The girl had been left in the DFO play area with her seven-year-old sister while their mother went shopping for Christmas presents.
Judge Pickering said there was “not point trying to make sense” of Al Bayati’s crime, describing it as an “incredibly risky and extraordinary move”.
“As is the case so often in matters of this nature, trying to think logically about why someone would try to behave in such a way to a three-year-old is pointless,” he said.
Al Bayati was found guilty of the crime in May. A jury from a previous trial had been unable to reach a verdict.
Earlier this year, the Crown told the court Al Bayati’s consistent denial of any wrongdoing should be focused on.
Police gave Al Bayati multiple opportunities to explain why he was in the stairwell with the child but never gave a straight answer, claiming he was helping her look for her mum.
The former security guard’s barrister earlier told the court the DNA found on the three-year-old suggested any touching done by Al Bayati had not lasted long.
In a victim impact statement read to the court earlier this month, the three-year-old’s mother spoke of the devastating impact the ordeal had on her child.
The mum said their peaceful family life had been “destroyed” by Al Bayati’s behaviour and their daughter was still having nightmares almost three years after it.
“This tragedy squeezed life, positive outlook, trust and happiness out of us in a way that is hard to describe,” the mother told Sydney’s Downing Centre.
“We are going through regular counselling and hoping to regain our strength.”
The mum said the family were working to teach their daughter to trust men and that “not every man in uniform is a predator”.
“We are so proud she was able to tell the police, however it was a dramatic event for her,” she added.
The three-year-old did not initially tell her mum about the assault but told her dad later that afternoon and referred to a “police man” and his “bum”.
Later speaking to police, the girl told officers Al Bayati “said I have to kiss his bottom but I didn’t want to”.
In sentencing, Judge Pickering also took into account Al Bayati arriving to Australia by boat as an Iraqi refugee a decade ago.
The court heard Al Bayati had gone through a number of traumatic incidents as a child including seeing someone be beheaded, almost dying on his way to Australia due to their sinking boat and being kidnapped by terrorists.
Despite that, Al Bayati was sentenced and will be eligible for parole in mid-2021.
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