Man arrested for alleged kidnapping and sexual assault in Sydney park

Jesse Lee Hardy, 27, was taken into custody after police concluded a two-week probe into a nighttime attack on a 23-year-old woman in Sydney’s inner west. The woman was heading home from Flemington Station around 11 p.m. on September 18 when an unknown man approached, forced her into the bushland of Airey Park in Homebush, and allegedly restrained, choked and sexually assaulted her. Hardy was later identified, arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault while inflicting bodily harm, choking, kidnapping and stalking.

A search of a Padstow residence yielded several items used as evidence. He was held at Bankstown Police Station, denied bail and is scheduled to appear before Bankstown Local Court. Support services for victims were listed, including the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service and the Men’s Referral Service.