Sydney man Anthony Sampieri, who bound and raped a seven-year-old girl inside a Kogarah dance studio, has died in prison.
Sampieri, an inmate of Long Bay Prison in Sydney, died at 8.30pm yesterday in the secure annex at Prince of Wales Hospital, a Corrective Services NSW spokesman told 9News.com.au. He was 57.
Corrective Services NSW did not confirm how Sampieri died, but he had been diagnosed with liver cancer and last year doctors had given him a 60 per cent chance of surviving more than five years.
Sampieri was sentenced to life in prison last February for an horrific attack on a young girl in public toilets in November 2018.
The 56-year-old pleaded guilty to 10 charges related to the attack including three counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.
During sentencing, Judge Paul Conlon described the crime as "sexual abuse of the most horrifying and degrading kind".
Judge Conlon detailed how Sampieri – who was on parole at the time of the attack - raped, punched and bound the girl in the toilets after consuming the drug ice.
Sampieri tied a cord around the seven-year-old girl's neck and hands and threatened the victim with a knife during the abuse.
The court heard the attack lasted about 45 to 50 minutes.
