A young Western Sydney mum has told of how she was sexually assaulted in a local and popular swimming pool while with her two children.
Cassandra Sunners, 26, claims a man forced his hands inside her swimmers at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
While holding her two-year-old daughter in the rapids section of the pool with her seven-year-old close by, Cassandra says she felt a hand “grab her from behind” before forcing its way beneath her swimming costume.
“It took three to five seconds for a disgusting vile man to make me a victim,” Mrs Sunners told the Daily Mail.
“I turned around and looked straight in his eyes. As soon as he made eye contact with me he put his head under water.”
Cassandra Sunners posted a warning about the incident on Facebook
She says the attacker looked to be in his late teens to early twenties. A spokesperson for Sydney Olympic Park confirmed that the offender “has been taken into custody and it is now a police matter.”
Cassandra vented her frustration on her personal Facebook page and warned other parents not to visit the pool.
“The security personnel at the centre at the time of my attack said: ‘You’d be surprised how often this kind of thing happens here and in the whirlpool,’” she told Daily Mail.
“After speaking with life guards, security guards, a police officer and a detective this afternoon, I have been informed by all that I am not the first and the whirlpool is a common place for predators,” she added on Facebook.
Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre says “a number of measures” have been taken to improve safety for their visitors.
