Domestic violence blitz targets hundreds of alleged high-risk offenders

Police have arrested 17 alleged high-risk domestic violence offenders, charging them with two dozen offences including sexual intercourse with a child and assault, in a sweeping operation in Sydney’s north-west.

Officers from NSW Police’s domestic and family violence command working under Operation Surge on Thursday visited 500 homes, targeting alleged offenders wanted on outstanding warrants, and conducted hundreds of apprehended domestic violence order and bail compliance checks. Three firearms prohibition order compliance checks were carried out on offenders with significant domestic violence history and linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

A 53-year-old man was arrested and charged with having sexual intercourse with a child under 10 after allegedly abusing a girl known to him between 2022 and 2024 in Woodberry, near Newcastle. He was refused police bail to appear in Blacktown Local Court on Friday.

In the city’s west, an 18-year-old man was arrested at Hebersham and charged with assaulting a woman known to him. He is alleged to have kicked the woman while on a train in early June.

Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein said Thursday’s arrests were part of a targeted operation to give domestic violence victims comfort that police will keep them safe in their homes.

Offenders wanted on outstanding warrants “believed that they could hide in the community away from police to continue some offending,” Weinstein said.

‘We are there to hold perpetrators to account and, importantly, protect the victims.’

Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein

“The message was very loud and clear from our police…they were arrested, and they are now before the courts to face justice.”

Weinstein said domestic violence remained the “scourge of our society”, which police considered unacceptable offending.

“We are there to hold perpetrators to account and, importantly, protect the victims.”

Last month, police charged more than 900 during the latest iteration of Operation Amarok, a statewide operation targeting offenders with a history of domestic violence offending. More than 60 people were charged during an earlier iteration of Operation Surge this year.

“I am really proud of the work that NSW Police do in relation to this,” Police Minister Yasmin Catley said.

“They are certainly punching above their weight. They don’t want to go to a home and see the sort of violence they see. They want to be part of the solution to fix this, and I’m really proud of their attitude in relation to that.”

Weinstein said proactive, intelligence-based policing of domestic violence was crucial to reducing and preventing domestic violence.

“Intelligence is at the crux of how we operate in a preventative space,” he said.

“We implore the community to reach out to police, reach out to other people … once we know and have that information to hand, these types of operations [are] where we can focus our attention so we can stop the next bit of violence, we can [stop] a victim having to suffer at the hands of someone who’s meant to love them.”

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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