‘I knew I wasn't going home': Woman explains nightmare experience as man charged with sexual assault

News.com.au

2 days ago

A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting three women in Toowoomba over an eight-month period.
Nasir Ilyas Kicho was sentenced in the Toowoomba District Court on May 16, having already spent 276 days in pre-sentence custody.
The court heard the offending occurred between July 2023 and March 2024, and included three sexual assaults, one count of deprivation of liberty, and one count of common assault.
Mr Kicho pleaded guilty to the charges and told the court he was 'so sorry'.
The first offence involved a 16-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted in July 2023 after Kicho delivered her a DoorDash order.
The court heard Mr Kicho groped her and forcibly kissed her despite her protests.
He gave her $50 and told her he would return the next day before leaving after being interrupted by a housemate. He initially denied wrongdoing to police but later admitted to kissing her on the forehead.
The second assault took place in March 2024 after Kicho met a 42-year-old woman at a brewery. He offered her a lift home, during which he groped her breast and touched her thighs.
The third incident involved a young woman who was waiting for an Uber in Toowoomba's CBD. Kicho, posing as a rideshare driver, picked her up and drove in the wrong direction.
He stopped at a bottle shop, kissed her, and locked the car doors. The court heard he later took her to his home, where she sent her location to friends before Mr Kicho took her phone.
Police arrived soon after and found the woman near his car.
One victim explained the nightmarish moment she realised she was in trouble.
'Within minutes, I knew I wasn't going home,' a woman identified as Jess told A Current Affair on Monday.
She demanded Kicho be deported for his crimes.
'He needs to be used as an example to everybody else that we let into this country,' she said.
'I was definitely a different person before this happened. It can happen to anybody. Absolutely anybody. And it can keep happening.
'It wasn't a one off. He's done all this on purpose. He knew what he was doing.'
In sentencing, Judge Craig Chowdhury described the offending as 'alarming' and said women should be able to get home safely.
He acknowledged Mr Kicho had already served more time than would ordinarily be imposed and accepted his guilty plea entitled him to a reduced penalty.
Prosecutor Peri Cardiff, said the Toowoomba community 'utterly denounced' the crimes and argued for an 18-month sentence. Ms Cardiff said Mr Kicho had deliberately targeted vulnerable women.
Defence barrister Nathan Edridge asked the court to consider the consequences of a sentence exceeding 12 months under Australia's Migration Act, which allows for the deportation of non-citizens sentenced to a year or more in prison if they have not lived in Australia for more than a decade.
Mr Edridge said Kicho had arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2022 after living in a Kurdish refugee camp for nearly a decade. He told the court Mr Kicho's wife and daughter remained in the camp, which housed about 10,000 people, and his extended family had been killed during conflict in their home village.
Mr Edridge submitted that a nine-month sentence would be appropriate, factoring in the 276 days already served.
Judge Chowdhury ultimately imposed a nine-month sentence, saying the time already served was equivalent to a two-year term under standard sentencing discounts.
Mr Kicho will be released from custody unless the Department of Home Affairs decides to intervene and cancel his visa.