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A man accused of forcing himself into a woman\u2019s home and threatening her with a knife before raping her on a kitchen floor has denied a string of sexual assaults in Melbourne\u2019s outer west, including another case at a nearby school the following day.<\/p>\n
Timothy Richards, 39, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday after being charged with two counts of rape, one count of aggravated burglary and one count of threats to kill.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a077c4d7c8c09f017fdc1b631be5a8fe47441b3b.jpeg\")
Police outside the scene of one of the alleged sexual assaults in Hoppers Crossing.Nine News<\/p>\n
Police allege he knocked on the door of a house on Whitsunday Drive, in Hoppers Crossing, on Thursday while the woman was alone and working from home.<\/p>\n
The court heard he had been living at an ex-partner\u2019s house nearby and had approached the property 20 minutes earlier where the pair had engaged in a brief conversation.<\/p>\n
Richards then allegedly produced a large kitchen knife and threatened to kill the 35-year-old woman before ordering her to remove her clothes as she screamed and pleaded with him to leave.<\/p>\n
The court heard the man, who police say was wearing a hoodie and had his face covered to conceal his identity, refused and grabbed her jacket, before dragging the woman into a nearby kitchen and sexually assaulting her.<\/p>\n
It is alleged he then pushed the woman to the ground and raped her before getting up and walking out the front door.<\/p>\n
The woman told investigators she eventually got up and locked the door and called her husband when she realised he had left.<\/p>\n
Sexual crimes squad detective Aiden Verdun described the alleged assault as a \u201cterrifying attack on a vulnerable victim in the safety of her own home\u201d.<\/p>\n
Richards has also been accused of another alleged sexual assault on Friday, when a woman was approached outside Mossfiel Primary School, in Langridge Street, Hoppers Crossing, about 6.45am.<\/p>\n
Police allege the woman, who was a staff member, was outside collecting bins when a man wearing a high-vis vest attempted to engage in a conversation with her before following her into a nearby classroom.<\/p>\n
The court heard the man placed the woman in a headlock as she fought and attempted to kick him off before he allegedly raped her.<\/p>\n
Detectives are also investigating a third incident where a 21-year-old woman was followed and grabbed at a nearby bus stop.<\/p>\n
The woman recalled the man as being about \u201csix feet tall\u201d (182 centimetres) and of South-East Asian appearance.<\/p>\n
Investigators are trying to establish through DNA testing if the Hoppers Crossing incidents are linked.<\/p>\n
Richards, who denies all the allegations against him, was arrested on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
The court heard he was on bail for three separate matters, including charges of unlawful assault, assault with a weapon, criminal damage, and possession of methamphetamine.<\/p>\n
He appeared during a court hearing on Saturday afternoon with his shaved head down.<\/p>\n
He will be remanded in custody and appear before a court on November 27.<\/p>\n
With Ashleigh McMillan<\/p>\n
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