Ten years ago an eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and strangled to death in a Perth shopping centre toilet.
The death of little Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia Shu was labelled as one of the worst cases police had ever seen.
A 21-year-old man, Dante Wyndham Arthurs, followed her into the toilet to commit the crime. He then fled and Sofia was found naked and motionless on the bathroom floor.
On the 10th anniversary of her death, her father Gabriel Rodriguez has spoken out about how the tragedy affected their family.
“She was an absolutely gorgeous, normal girl,” he told The Sunday Times.
He says he has no hatred towards the man who killed his girl.
Dante Wyndham Arthurs
“We don’t have anger in our family,” he said. “Since this guy’s in jail, hopefully for as long as possible, we just keep on with our own lives. I wouldn’t like to see him come out, I don’t think he would make a contribution to our society. I think it’s just a risk society shouldn’t be taking.”
Arthurs will be eligible for parole in three years, and what worries Rodriguez the most is that if he is released, his name won’t be on the public sex offender register.
Sexual assault charges were dropped because the court couldn’t prove Arthurs committed them before she died.
Rodriguez believes it was his daughter who had to pay for the mistake made by police when they let Arthurs walk free for a sex attack on an eight-year-old girl in Canning Vale three years before he killed Sofia.
“What happened was just unimaginable, it was the worst luck ever, but it could have happened to anybody. I think that’s why the community has felt so strongly,” Rodriguez said.
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