Nathan Raymond Caldow pleaded guilty before he was sentenced by the NSW District Court. Photo: NSW Police.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault.
It was close to midnight when a stranger grabbed a teenager on the street, threw her to the ground and while she struggled told her, “just take it”.
Nathan Raymond Caldow, 44, was sentenced to 17 years’ jail by the NSW District Court on Thursday (2 April) over his terrifying and random attacks on two young women while they walked on the streets of Goulburn.
The court heard neither of his victims had ever seen him before.
On 4 April 2023, the first woman left home about 11 pm to meet up with her boyfriend when she saw Caldow, who was then a 41-year-old resident of the town, near Goulburn Railway Station.
She grew afraid because he appeared to be following her in the darkness, so she called her boyfriend on the phone and whispered at him to hurry before the strange man behind her started yelling.
“What are you doing by yourself? Where are you going?” he yelled at her.
Caldow then ran at her and repeatedly punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground. She screamed and kicked at him while he stood over the top of her and told her, “shut the f*** up”.
She managed to get up and run towards where she planned to meet her boyfriend and he called police. It was later discovered that four of her teeth had been knocked loose and were only held in place due to her braces.
The court heard how the second woman left home about 11 pm on 14 April 2023 planning to walk to meet up with friends.
She saw Caldow on the street and while she tried to cross the road to get away from him, he started walking beside her.
He then grabbed her in a bear-hug, slammed her into the ground, tried to take off her clothes and sexually assaulted her. She called for help and struggled while he told her, “just take it”.
He repeatedly punched her in the face and choked her until she was unconscious. After knocking her out, he removed her clothes and left her lying face-down, naked.
When she woke up, she couldn’t see out of her eye and her mouth was full of blood. She ran to a house that had its lights on and tried to flag down two cars, but no-one helped until a third car stopped.
Nathan Raymond Caldow was arrested in Fremantle, WA before police escorted him back to NSW. Photo: NSW Police.
Both victims, who were left covered in injuries, went on to tell the court about the physical and emotional impacts of the crimes.
The first woman said she should be able to walk around freely, but she still became anxious when walking alone, even in daylight.
“It is something I’ll never forget,” she said.
The second woman said she wondered what would have happened if she’d walked down a different street.
“I still have difficulties walking on my own at night,” she said.
Meanwhile, Caldow took a one-way flight to Perth in Western Australia on 22 April 2023 before he was arrested in Fremantle several days later then extradited back to NSW and refused bail.
When police looked at his phone, they saw he had recently been making internet searches for terms like “teen girl forced ass rape” and “held down anal rough punishment”.
In addition, they saw he had secretly recorded a video of a naked man showering in March 2023.
Caldow pleaded guilty to two counts of inflicting actual bodily harm with the intent to have sexual intercourse as well as single counts of choking and recording intimate images without consent. The court also took into account a robbery charge.
While he had a lengthy criminal history he had no prior convictions for sexual violence.
“The index offending is a gravely serious escalation of offending,” Judge Nannette Williams said.
Caldow told a psychiatrist he had been on a multi-day meth bender in April 2023. He said he didn’t know either victim, but saw the first and made a “snap” decision then saw the second and wanted to “touch” her.
Judge Williams said defence lawyers argued Caldow suffered from bipolar affective disorder and was in a manic phase during the offending, but she said the evidence in the matter meant she was unable to find he was suffering from mania at the time.
He was sentenced to a total of 17 years’ jail, but the judge found special circumstances existed, partly due to his mental health issues, before giving him a non-parole period of 11-and-a-half years’ jail.
As his sentenced was backdated to account for time served, he can be released from October 2034.
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 on 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
If you have been affected by sexual violence, or someone you know has, you can report it to police by attending a police station or phoning 131 444.
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