A cold case rapist has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years' jail for attacks on three women near Newcastle dating back to the 1970s.
Warren John McCorriston was extradited from Queensland last year to face 28 charges, including the rape and sexual assault of the women.
He was arrested by detectives from Strike Force Arapaima who re-opened an investigation into the suspected murders of Lake Macquarie teenagers Robyn Hickie and Amanda Robinson in 1979.
In December, McCorriston pleaded guilty to five offences relating to raping three women between 1979 and 1999.
Seventeen other charges were dropped and no charges have been laid over the teenagers' suspected deaths.
McCorriston pleaded guilty to offences including sexual intercourse without consent and sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm.
Police evidence tendered in Newcastle District Court said that as well as raping the women, he often stalked them in separate incidents.
'I was your prey'
McCorriston attacked his first victim when she was 17.
The court was told the woman was stalked and grabbed from behind while walking to the old Newcastle train station in Hunter Street.
McCorriston also grabbed her while she was at Redhead Beach with friends.
"Forty years ago, I was a young, innocent 17-year-old girl who had just started to venture out from the safety and security of my parents' home," the woman said in her victim impact statement.
"I was unfortunate enough to become a victim of one.
"You were that predator and I was your prey."
In 1981, a second woman was targeted after becoming McCorriston's live-in girlfriend.
He met his third and final victim, who also became his partner, at a disco at the Gosford Bowling Club.
Judge Mark Marien said the domestic attacks were the most concerning.
"The offences of domestic violence are of a high order of seriousness, aggravated by the fact they were committed in the homes of the victims, in a sense of being totally unprovoked and him showing compete disregard for the innocent victims."
The judge said the women had been forced to have sex against their will, held down and threatened.
But he said offences against the first victim targeted at a train station were at the low end of the scale.
Judge Marien said while the woman would have been terrified to be approached in the surf at a local beach and held near the railway station, he would deal with the matter with a community corrections order for one year.
McCorriston took the stand and offered what he called a "humble" apology.
Judge Marien said his remorse and contrition must be taken into account.
The judge said he believed the remorse was genuine and noted McCorriston was never challenged by the prosecution about his claims.
But he noted a doctor's report that said McCorriston was still troubled by episodic family violence and sexual entitlement and would need ongoing supervision in the community.
McCorriston will be eligible for parole in July 2024.
