WARNING: Graphic.
A convicted paedophile who terrified Sydney during a two-year crime spree in the 1990s – including sexually assaulting a young girl – is locked in a legal battle with the state who want to impose strict supervision orders on him following his release.
The State of NSW has applied to the Supreme Court in an attempt to keep tabs on notorious rapist Raymond Barry Cornwall following his release from jail last year.
Cornwall, 67, has spent the majority of his adult life in prison after being convicted of a series of sexual offences dating back to 1989 and repeated breaches of parole and supervision orders.
Supreme Court Justice Mark Ierace granted interim supervision orders which placed a series of strict conditions on Cornwall, including that he not view pornography and wear an electronic bracelet monitor, with the state also applying for a two-year order to keep tabs on him.
Cornwall’s extensive criminal history and why authorities fear he could offend again unless he was closely monitored was spelled out in a judgment handed down in the Supreme Court this week.
The court heard that Cornwall was imprisoned for the first time as a 19-year-old for drink driving offences, as well as in his 20s and 30s for further driving offences.
Then in his mid 30s he committed his first sexual offences and pleaded guilty to a string of rapes committed against women during a shocking two-year spree across Sydney from 1991 to 1993.
In June 1991 he raped a woman at knifepoint when he forced her into bushland near the Georges River before stealing her handbag.
Four months later he sexually assaulted two 14-year-old girls after threatening to kill them while they were walking through the University of Western Sydney.
He attempted to sexually assault a 15-year-old girl in similar circumstances three months later when he grabbed his victim by the arm and pointed a knife at her.
She broke free and ran to safety.
He also sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl as she was on her way to school and another 18-year-old woman, attacking her as she was pushing her bicycle along a track.
He was released from prison in December 2007 after more than 14 years behind bars.
Just 30 minutes later he removed his electronic monitoring bracelet and went on the run.
He was seen by an off-duty police officer on a beach two days later and rearrested.
Cornwall was jailed again for another 15 months.
He was again released in March 2009 but was brought back into custody just six months later after he was found in a tree with a bottle of whiskey and threatening to self harm, which resulted in another 20 months in jail for failing to comply with orders.
While Cornwall was in custody, police used emerging DNA technology to link him to the rape of a woman at Pottsville in northern NSW in September 1989.
He pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and detaining a person for advantage and was jailed for a further four-and-a-half years.
Cornwall was released in June 2015 and before he was again rearrested in April 2019.
He ran from police after they requested to see his phone and a search of his device found a video of him masturbating on a train in front of a female passenger.
Cornwall was jailed for two years and police also found a cache of 112 child abuse images – some of which depicted the vile exploitation and abuse of pre-pubescent children.
As a result another two years and three months added to his sentence.
He was allowed back into the community on conditional release in March last year however that order, which imposed strict conditions on him, is to expire in March.
Justice Ierace said that while Cornwall had stayed out of trouble since his most recent release, the last time he was taken back into custody, his crimes were only discovered because he was subject to a supervision order.
Justice Ierace granted a 28-day interim supervision order which imposed a long string of conditions on Cornwall.
They included that he wear an electronic ankle monitor, abide by a 9pm-6am curfew, not possess a passport and not leave NSW.
Under the orders, Cornwall is barred from going to day care centres and schools, amusement parks, playgrounds and any residence where a person aged under 18 lives.
He is also banned from viewing pornographic material as well as being required to undergo psychological and psychiatric assessment and counselling.
The matter will return to court next month as the state attempts to impose a two-year control order on Cornwall.
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