Grindr rapist jailed for six years after 'sustained attack' on teenager

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault.

A police manhunt ultimately brought an end to Mohammadiman Aghahosseini’s crime spree, during which he repeatedly sexually assaulted a young man he met on a dating app.

Aghahosseini was convicted and sentenced to a total of six years and one months’ jail on Tuesday (23 July) with a non-parole period of four years’ jail, after which he is expected to be deported.

The ACT Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said the 39-year-old’s “sustained attack” on the teenaged victim of his sexual assaults included repeated threats and violence, and she noted the “compounding trauma inflicted on the victim”.

“The experience was extremely traumatic for the victim,” she said.

In late 2022, Aghahosseini sent a message to the teenager over the gay dating application Grindr and offered to pay him about $250 to meet in person so he could perform a sex act in front of him.

The teen thought he looked about 10 years older than the photo he had shown him when they met up, and when he started touching him, the teen told him, “No, that’s not what we talked about”.

But Aghahosseini repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted him, even though the teenager told him to stop around 20 times.

He also pressured the teen to smoke from a “crack pipe” and, at one stage, he pulled out a pocketknife then told him to wait while he showered.

The teen was worried about the knife and was not sure how the abuser would react if he saw him leaving when he had told him to stay, but he began recording evidence, getting Aghahosseini’s phone number and taking photos of his room and tattoos.

Aghahosseini repeatedly raped the teenager again before he was able to escape and went to a police station.

Meanwhile, on 24 October 2022, a former employer had driven Aghahosseini to a 7-Eleven service station in Mawson before the latter grabbed his victim’s $2000 iPhone 11 and dragged him out of the car onto the ground while stealing it. He also pushed his victim in the face and kicked him in the leg while he was on the ground.

Aghahosseini then used the man’s internet banking accounts to steal about $7000, although $3000 was later returned.

Then, on 7 November 2022, Aghahosseini burgled a former friend’s home in Harrison, stealing two iPhones before returning them.

However, he returned to burgle the home again on 10 November 2022, stealing items like an iPad, a laptop, three iPhones and an Apple watch. When his friend caught up with him, Aghahosseini hit him in the head, making him bleed.

After Aghahosseini was arrested, he was taken to Canberra Hospital for a mental health assessment, but he escaped.

He was arrested in Sydney on 5 December 2022 and extradited to the ACT.

During his sentencing hearing last month, the Supreme Court heard he had already spent about 18 months in custody and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, although he had been under what was characterised as a drug-induced psychosis during his crime spree.

Chief Justice McCallum accepted the robbery, burglaries and thefts occurred in response to persecutory beliefs and the degree of his responsibility for these offences was slightly reduced by his schizophrenia.

However, she said the same could not be said for the sexual offences, which were “grave offences of their kind”.

Aghahosseini, who the court heard had arrived in the country on a boat, is not an Australian citizen or a permanent resident and will likely face deportation once his sentence ends.

But he told the author of a pre-sentence report that he intended to return to Iran to live with his family once he is released.

Aghahosseini pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of theft, two counts of burglary, as well as single counts of robbery, assault, escaping custody and obtaining property by deception.

As his sentence was backdated to account for time served, he is eligible to be released from custody in October 2026.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.