Man charged with sexual assault of 90-year-old aged care resident

A 23-year-old man has been charged after a 90-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted at an aged facility in Victoria.

According to Victoria Police, the elderly woman woke to find a man sexually abusing her about 4.45am on Sunday.

The man was arrested just after 9am on Monday and has been charged with rape, aggravated burglary, recklessly cause serious injury, common law assault and theft. He’s expected to appear in Melbourne’s Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

“The incident was investigated by detectives from the Sexual Crimes Squad with assistance from the Geelong Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team, local police and Major Crime Scene Unit,” the police said in the statement.

According to a PerthNow report, Detective Acting Inspector Mark Burnett said the woman suffered some injuries and the medical care was ongoing. He also praised the 90-year-old for fighting back.

“She is impressive, she is very cognisant of what’s occurred and is a fighter,” he said.

“She was able at one point to activate her personal distress alarm. That’s resulted in nursing staff attending and scaring away … the alleged attacker.

“This is a particularly confronting incident. This female – one of the more vulnerable people within our society – has allegedly been attacked within her home.”