Man admits to raping jogger at Melbourne creek in attack described as ‘chamber of horrors’

Joel Russo raped the woman and held her head under water at Merri Creek in 2019

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A man has admitted to holding a female jogger’s head under creek water and repeatedly raping her in an attack described by a Victorian judge as “every woman’s nightmare”.

Joel Russo, 28, pleaded guilty in Victoria’s county court to rape, sexual assault and conduct endangering a person after attacking a woman in Melbourne’s north in 2019.

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