Bilal Skaf () (born 14 September 1981) is a serial gang rapist who led groups of men to commit gang rape attacks against women and girls in Sydney in 2000. For his crimes, Skaf is serving a 31-year prison sentence with a non-parole period of 28 years, and will be eligible for parole in 2033. He was originally sentenced to 55 years with a 40-year non-parole period, but that was modified several times upon appeal.

Early life

Skaf's mother Baria worked as a cleaner and aged care worker, and his father Mustapha worked for

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities A ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, gaining a good reputation among his colleagues. Bilal attended Strathfield South High School in

Enfield, New South Wales Enfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 11 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Municipality of ...

and left school at 14 and worked as a spray painter before his father used his own good employment record to get his son on the State Rail payroll. This is despite Bilal having gained convictions for

shoplifting Shoplifting (also known as shop theft, shop fraud, retail theft, or retail fraud) is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours. The terms ''shoplifting'' and ''shoplifter'' are not usually defined in law, and genera ...

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

and

carjacking Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually i ...

Gang rapes

In 2000, Bilal Skaf led a gang that engaged in a series of gang rapes in Sydney against women and girls as young as 14 years. In 2002, nine men, including Skaf, were sentenced to a total of more than 240 years' jail. Skaf was engaged at the time of his arrest and although his fiancée stood by him during his trial, she ended their engagement soon after his conviction. Skaf's response was to sketch cartoons depicting his former fiancée being raped and murdered. Since he was first charged in November 2000, Skaf has remained unrepentant. During his trial, he claimed he was involved only in cases of

consensual Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual consent. Consent as understood in ...

sex, laughed when his verdict was read and swore at the judge when he received his sentence. On 16 September 2005, the

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for criminal law, criminal matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of Ne ...

reduced Skaf's 55-year sentence to a maximum of 28 years, with parole available after 22 years. NSW Attorney General

Bob Debus Robert John Debus (born 16 September 1943) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the Labor Party. Debus has been a minist ...

decided that the government would seek leave for an appeal to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

against the sentence reduction. An earlier appeal had already reduced his sentence to 46 years, after a successful appeal against one of his convictions. On 3 February 2006, the High Court refused leave to appeal, arguing that the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal had been left with no choice because of the many errors by the trial judge in sentencing Skaf to 46 years. That meant he could be freed at the age of 42 in 2023. A further appeal led to a 31-year sentence being imposed. Skaf will now be eligible for release on 11 February 2033.

Family

Bilal Skaf is the brother of Mohammed Skaf, also a gang rape attacker sentenced to 32 years' jail for his part in the attacks. Bilal and Mohammed are the sons of Mustapha and Baria Skaf, who emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from war-torn

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in the 1970s. In 2019, his brother Mohammed Skaf began his application for release to parole where Margaret Cunneen SC, who prosecuted the men, together with their lawyer Omar Juweinat urged that he be granted parole.

Prison life

Bilal Skaf began his sentence in Sydney's

Long Bay Correctional Centre The Long Bay Correctional Complex, commonly called Long Bay, is a correctional facility comprising a heritage-listed maximum and minimum security prison for males and females and a hospital to treat prisoners, psychiatric cases and remandees, loc ...

but was soon moved to maximum security in Goulburn Gaol after prison officers uncovered plans by fellow inmates to inject him with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

-infected blood. In March 2003, he was charged with writing a threatening letter to Corrective Services NSW Commissioner, Ron Woodham. The letter had been found in an internal prison mailbox. The letter said: "Don't take this as a threat but if all Muslims aren't released by January 2003 Australia and citizens will be in danger of bombing". White powder had been put into the letter. While awaiting a court appearance for the letter incident, in July 2003, drawings of gang rape were discovered in Skaf's prison cell. The drawings depicted violence and rape against his former fiancée, who had ended their relationship in March 2003. After she had cut all ties with Skaf, she was subjected to threatening phone calls and letters. She now says he can "rot in hell". According to prison guards, Skaf thought that he would be given a hero's welcome by Lebanese inmates such as the gangland murderer Michael Kanaan. Instead, he was targeted by them for bringing disgrace to their community. According to Commissioner Woodham, Skaf has not shown remorse for his crimes. He also says Skaf has warned prison officers to be careful outside of work, as they may be shot. In April 2015, Skaf was attacked by two other inmates in jail and sustained "serious facial injuries".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skaf, Bilal 1981 births Living people Australian prisoners and detainees Criminals from Sydney Australian people convicted of rape Australian people of Lebanese descent Prisoners and detainees of New South Wales People from the Inner West (Sydney)