Mother recognises son as accused sex attacker on TV and forces him to confess

Steven Rundell forcibly kissed, groped and restrained a woman walking home in Sydney

Lizzie Dearden
Tuesday 27 October 2015 12:40 GMT
The attack happened in the Kings Cross area of Sydney
The attack happened in the Kings Cross area of Sydney

A sex attacker in Australia reportedly turned himself in on his mother’s orders after she spotted him on the news.

CCTV footage of Steven Robert Rundell had been released in a police appeal searching for witnesses to a sexual assault in Sydney.

A 22-year-old woman had been attacked as she walked home through the Kings Cross district in the early hours of 20 January 2014, with a man restraining, groping and forcibly kissing her.

Steven Rundell was caught after his mother spotted him in a police appeal using CCTV images

After police exhausted their leads three months later, they launched an appeal using CCTV images of the suspect.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Rundell’s mother recognised him on the evening news and rang her son to tell him to hand himself in.

At a hearing at the New South Wales District Court today, the 37-year-old admitted indecent assault but pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent, the newspaper reported. He will be sentenced on 4 March.

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