Action Society welcomes the effective eight-year prison sentence handed down to serial abuser Ryan Rhode in the Blue Downs Regional Court after he pleaded guilty to all eight charges against him.
Three women, including Janelle Laattoe, were complainants in separate gender-based violence cases against Rhode. The cases were subsequently combined for prosecution.
Laattoe reported suffering repeated and serious assaults at Rhode’s hands, which left her requiring surgery. A second woman reported that Rhode abducted her at gunpoint after threatening her husband, while the third woman reported being severely assaulted after she ended her relationship with him.
The court imposed the following sentences:
• Count 1: One year’s direct imprisonment
• Count 2: Eight years’ direct imprisonment
• Count 3: Two years’ direct imprisonment
• Count 4: Three years’ direct imprisonment
• Counts 5, 6 and 7: Eight years’ direct imprisonment on each count
• Count 8: Two years’ direct imprisonment
The sentences imposed on counts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 will run concurrently with the eight-year sentence imposed on count 2, resulting in an effective sentence of eight years’ direct imprisonment.
Rhode was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. The court ordered the immediate search and seizure of any firearms, ammunition, competency certificates or firearm licences in his possession.
Action Society has monitored the combined prosecution since 2022. The matter was repeatedly delayed by plea negotiations and trial postponements, while Rhode remained in custody after being denied bail.
“Three women had to relive terrifying acts of violence while this case dragged through the courts for years. Their courage in pursuing justice has brought Rhode’s trail of relationship violence and destruction to an end. By refusing to remain silent, they helped ensure that he could not continue harming women and potentially spared others from becoming his next victims,” says Juanita du Preez, national spokesperson for Action Society.
“Rhode’s guilty pleas finally spared the survivors the ordeal of a full trial, but an eight-year effective sentence remains difficult to reconcile with the repeated and serious violence committed against three separate women. We commend Janelle and the other survivors for standing firm throughout an exhausting legal process. Their bravery secured accountability and helped make other women safer.”
Action Society will continue to support survivors and monitor cases in which delays and repeated postponements prolong their trauma.
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