Tinder rapist's victims weep as attacks recalled in court
Three women assaulted by a serial rapist, who targeted his victims using dating app Tinder, have told a Melbourne court how the attacks have devastated their lives.
The brother of a fourth woman, who took her own life earlier this year, spoke of the "permanent and unforgivable" damage inflicted upon her family.
Glenn Antony Hartland, 44, sat at the back of the room for his pre-sentence plea hearing in the County Court on Monday morning.
He has pleaded guilty to three charges of rape and one of indecent assault over attacks in Melbourne's eastern suburbs between May 2014 and March 2016.
His surviving victims quietly wept and one had to leave the room as their statements were read aloud.
Hartland seduced his victims via Tinder and entered intimate relations with them before engaging in forced, non-consensual sex or indecent assault.
One victim spoke of how Hartland would combine "grandiose romantic gestures" and charm with threats of suicide and violent mood swings to control and manipulate his victims.
All three described themselves as intelligent and strong-willed women prior to the abuse.
His lawyer is expected to argue later on Monday that Hartland had a difficult childhood in which he regularly moved and was rejected by his mother.
The hearing continues.
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