THE man who sexually assaulted two young children he’d lured away from a North Perth childcare centre has had four-and-half years added to his 10-year jail sentence.
Three days before he molested the four-year-old girl and five-year-old boy in April last year, Vincenzo Mule destroyed his ex-girlfriend’s car and damaged her North Beach house by setting them on fire.
Prosecutor Edward Fitzpatrick told the Supreme Court of WA on Thursday that the 54-year-old had a “vendetta” against the woman.
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READ NOW“He was in the habit of just upsetting her,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
The court heard she had secured a violence restraining order against him before the arson and he used someone else’s mobile phone to text her throughout the night to try to find out if she was at her state-owned home.
Judge Joseph McGrath said Mule wanted to ensure she was there to maximise the fear he caused her.
The messages included “would you like a cuddle? Come to my place and I’ve got something for you” and “are you still awake?”
At 4.25am, she saw Mule at the front of her house and called police, who came over but didn’t search the backyard where he was hiding.
He had gone to the house the previous day, stacking up furniture at the back of the house to use as fuel for the fire and removing a light bulb from the front porch.
The woman panicked when she saw the fire, which almost spread to neighbouring properties.
Her car was uninsured and she and her son were forced to move to a shelter.
Judge McGrath said it was not alleged he intended to physically harm her but he achieved his aim to cause her “enormous grief”.
Their relationship, which lasted about six months, had been marked by violence, leaving her hospitalised on one occasion.
He had threatened to burn the house down before the arson attack and called her a “crack whore”, the court heard.
“You display a capricious and acrimonious attitude,” the judge said.
“You held a deep and abiding hatred.”
Judge McGrath said Mule didn’t express any real regret or empathy for the woman, who now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Mule must serve a total sentence of at least 12 years and six months before he will be eligible for parole.
He had been ordered to stay away from her for life.
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