Bondi Beast rapist at large for 14 years was ‘family man’

A SERIAL rapist known as the Bondi Beast has been unmasked as a “dedicated family man” who lived a normal life in a middle-class suburb.

Keith Simms, affectionately known by friends and relatives as Magoo, began his reign of terror in 1987 when he targeted women jogging or out walking at night, dragging them into secluded areas to sexually assault them.

He is believed to have attacked 31 victims from 1987 to 2001.

On occasions he broke into their homes and attacked his victims in bed.

He was often armed with a knife and was also referred to as the Tracksuit Rapist owing to his casual clothes.

Advances in DNA forensics allowed police to unmask him but the scientific breakthrough came too late to arrest him – he died in February aged 66. His shocked family knew him as a sport and party loving father and grandfather.

He struck throughout Sydney’s eastern suburbs, his victims ranging in age between 14 and 55.

Simms had worked as a gardener for a council, golf course and national parks service.