Serial rapist Malcolm Rewa has been sentenced to preventive detention for the 1992 rape of a 16-year-old girl in Auckland. The conviction follows a retrial ordered by the Court of Appeal after his initial acquittal in 2019. Rewa is already serving a life sentence for the 1992 murder of Susan Burdett and multiple other sexual assaults.
Following this latest conviction, New Zealand Police have announced they are analyzing historic rape complaints from the period 1985 to 1989. The review aims to identify any potential matches in the national DNA databank that could be linked to Rewa or other offenders.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard stated the review is a proactive measure to provide answers to victims and their families. The police emphasized their commitment to investigating historic sexual assaults using modern forensic techniques.
Malcolm Rewa's crimes, spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s, have been the subject of multiple investigations and trials, making him one of New Zealand's most notorious serial sex offenders.
