The ‘Bondi Beast’ serial rapist has been identified by Australian police almost 40 years after the first attack

Australian police have identified a serial rapist dubbed the “Bondi Beast” – almost 40 years after his first attack.

New DNA technology revealed the perpetrator who terrorized women in Sydney for years was a man named in local media reports as Keith Simms, who died in February at the age of 66.

New South Wales Police established Strike Force Doreen in 2005 to investigate five sexual assaults that occurred in the city’s eastern suburbs.

After further investigation, investigators expanded the investigation to include 31 attempted and actual sexual assault crimes between 1985 and 2001.

The perpetrator targeted women between the ages of 14 and 55 by either attacking them in their homes or abducting them while they were jogging or walking.

Survivors described the man as being between 160 and 180 cm tall, with dark skin, dark, wavy hair, brown eyes and a wide nose.

His physique changed over the years from “skinny” to “athletic or muscular.”

Victims told police he was armed with a knife or threatened to use one and kept his face hidden.

In most cases, he wore casual clothing, including tracksuits and hoodies.

He was also known as the “Centennial Park Rapist” and the “Tracksuit Rapist.”

Despite numerous appeals to the population for information over the years, the attacks remained unsolved.

DNA evidence directly linked 12 of the incidents, and a further 19 were consistent with the attacker’s characteristic pattern of criminal behavior.

Breakthroughs came after a familial DNA comparison in the police database, which enabled investigators to narrow down the group of suspects to 324 people.

Her search eventually led her to Simms.

“Further investigation and forensic testing, including additional Y-STR testing, revealed that the DNA was linked to a man aged 66 who died earlier this year,” New South Wales Police said on Monday in an explanation.

“Further forensic testing was carried out at the Forensic and Analytical Science Service and in September 2022 it was confirmed that the man’s DNA matched the suspect’s profile.”

It said investigators from Strike Force Doreen had since contacted the survivors and informed them that the man had been identified, “but due to the circumstances no further legal action can be taken,” the statement added.