Alleged rapist arrested after returning to Brisbane crime scene that night, police say

Queensland police say a man accused of raping and assaulting a young woman, who was taking a morning bushwalk, has been arrested after he returned to the crime scene in his vehicle later that evening. A woman, aged in her 20s, was walking in the semi-rural Brisbane suburb of Brookfield about 6.30am on Thursday when she was allegedly stopped by the man and sexually assaulted. She told police her attacker fled on foot.

Later that afternoon, police arrested a 32-year-old man from Raceview, near Ipswich, nearby. Det Supt Andrew Massingham told reporters the attack had been random and that the alleged attacker had been on his way to work. Massingham said that after an urgent public appeal for information on Thursday, two people came forward with dashcam footage that was “the final piece of the puzzle”.

Police said they will allege the man had approached the woman from behind near the Brookfield Road bridge. Police said the woman was now being cared for by family. Massingham said he wanted to “acknowledge her bravery in coming forward”.

Our thoughts are with her [and] her family.”