Adrian Moore was desrcibed as a ‘depraved misogynist’ who used his position in the West Australia force to facilitate his offending
The district court in Perth, Western Australia, where a record sentence was handed down to Adrian Moore. Photograph: Trevor Collens/AAP
https://www.theguardian.com-Narelle Towie
A record 30-year sentence has been handed down to a “depraved” former West Australian police officer who drugged, then sadistically raped and filmed 13 women over a decade.
Adrian Moore, 53, sat masked and emotionless in WA’s district court in Perth on Tuesday as judge Alan Troy read out the sickening details of the case, which involved 87 charges of sexual penetration without consent, sexual coercion and aggravated indecent assault.
Since February 2007, Moore “preyed on vulnerable women” through online dating sites and in every case except one, was working as a senior constable at the time.
Two of Moore’s victims were police officers. It was not until 2018 that his reign of terror started to unravel when his 12th victim made a report to police.
For almost two hours, the court heard on Tuesday how Moore stupefied his victims with an unknown substance, raped them with bondage accoutrements and fruit and vegetables, and at times coerced them into bestiality.
The horrific assaults were filmed, categorised and stored by Moore who then used the footage for his own sexual gratification. Some of the victims were unaware of the crimes against them until shown vision from storage devices retrieved by police.
“In many instances, your offending was persistent, ongoing, repetitive and brutal,“ Troy said.
“There is a high level of depravity involved in the use of vegetables, bestiality, whipping and urination as well as the use of bottles and a metal hook.
“Your conduct involves… adject disregard by you for each victim’s dignity as a human being and for her autonomy and bodily integrity.”
If it were not for Moore’s arrest in March 2020, the judge said that he was “entirely satisfied” that he would have continued to offend.
Survivors in the court gallery broke down in tears as the sentence was handed down.
During sentencing, Moore was described as depraved and a misogynist who led a double life. The case was not comparable to any other in the state, Troy said.
Moore’s complete lack of remorse and delusional thoughts about the police being out to get him, put him in a truly exceptional category, the court was told.
During one violent sex assaults in 2010, Moore was dressed in his police uniform and had offered to help the victim move into her house after meeting her on the dating website RSVP.
The judge said Moore had used his job as a police officer to both deceive and facilitate his offending during his sex spree.
Moore raped and beat his victims in their homes, his car and in hotel rooms. He was found guilty of 74 counts of intentionally stupefying his victims.
Troy said the victims were deprived of the safety and sanctuary they should have felt by being in their own homes.
In 2019, Moore served six months in jail after officers investigating the case discovered Moore had used police computers to stalk his victims.
In court, a psychologist’s remarks described Moore as having a deviant psychopathic personality with no mental health challenges.
“Each of the nine, victim-impact statements that I have received laid bare the profound devastating effect that your offending has had and continues to have on them,” Troy said.
Troy said that the community owes the 12th victim an enormous debt of gratitude that she had the courage to report the assault knowing the sickening and violent images would be seen by police.
“I fear you have irretrievably wrecked her life,” Troy said.
“Clearly as a community we have some way to go elevating the stress and fears of people who have been the victims of sexual offences in coming forward.”
Because of his former police position, Moore will serve his 30 years in a special protection unit. This means he will spend less time out of his cell compared with other prisoners.
During Moore’s four-week trial, he denied any wrongdoing and said the women had consented to the acts of bondage dominance sadism and masochism (BDSM).
But the judge said that he did not accept the contention that more than half of the victims were willing participants and found that only one woman expressed she wanted to partake in some of these types of sexual acts.
Jurors were so affected by the photograph and video evidence presented in the trail that midway through a note was sent to the judge reading: “Several of the jurors … are finding it very difficult to cope with the … extremely graphic, explicit, sickening and confronting evidence being presented at this trial.”
“We, therefore, request counselling for our jurors on an individual basis be made available as soon as possible, rather than have to wait until the end of the trial.”
Outside court today, Moore’s lawyer Mark Trowell said that he would appeal against the conviction.
Moore will serve a minimum of 18 years before being eligible for parole.