Woman who was chained in a pig shed says she thought she would die during her terrifying ordeal

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A European backpacker who was kidnapped and raped in an old pig shed in South Australia, has said she breaks down every time she thinks about the ordeal.

The 26-year-old was in the district court in Adelaide on Friday after Gene Charles Bristow was earlier this week found guilty of rape and aggravated kidnapping in February 2017.

“While I was in that shed, I felt like an animal or a slave,” she said in a victim impact statement read by a prosecutor. “I felt powerless and miserable. It was terrifying.”

“I was locked in chains, held against my will and had to endure things that nobody should have to endure.

“I was afraid I would never see my family again because I thought I would die in Australia.

“I tried not to think of them because it was just too painful, but it was because of them that my instincts to survive kicked in.”

The woman said she had suffered lasting psychological and physical impacts and asked for Bristow never to be released.

“He took everything from me, not only did he take my clothes and my belongings — but also my freedom, my mind, my family, my friends,” the backpacker said.

“I would never want anyone else to ever have to go through what I went through,” she said.

A jury returned the guilty verdicts against Bristow on Monday after deliberating for about three hours at the end of the month-long trial.

The 54-year-old was found guilty of one count of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of rape, two counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape.

The charges stemmed from a Gumtree advertisement the woman posted in search of temporary farm work.

Bristow offered her a job and, after picking her up from a Murray Bridge bus stop, took her inside a disused pig shed on his property at Meningie, south-east of Adelaide.

There he bound her hands and feet and chained her to the ground.

He raped her and threatened to shoot her if she tried to escape before she managed to raise the alarm using her laptop.

Bristow drove her back to Murray Bridge the next day, helped her check into a motel and left.



