Between 1987 and 1991, Melbourne, Australia was shocked by a series of child sexual assaults.

The perpetrator targeted young girls in the eastern suburbs and showed such meticulous

preparation and forensic awareness that investigators remained baffled at who the perpetrator was.

Despite having multiple victims, his methodical approach and careful precautions kept him

under the radar of authorities.

When his fourth victim turned up dead, authorities knew they needed to act fast before

another local child had an encounter with a monster.

Music child had an encounter with a monster. Mr. Cruel launched his series of attacks in Melbourne's peaceful suburbs,

unleashing a four-year reign of terror that became one of Australia's most notorious criminal cases.

At 4 a.m. on August 22nd, 1987, an unnamed family was fast asleep in Lower Plenty,

just northeast of Melbourne and Australia. The intruder carried a knife and gun and broke into the family home by removing a paint of glass

from a window. At some point during the attack, he cut the telephone line to the home. He wore a mask

that was like a balaclava that covered his whole face and there were two small holes for his eyes

and one small hole near his mouth. He bound the parents with electrical tape and put them in a wardrobe.

Then he restrained their six-year-old son by strapping him to his bed with the same tape.

Once the rest of the family was contained, he assaulted their 11-year-old daughter, an attack

that lasted two hours.

He had turned on the radio to drown out the

sound of the assault. The attacker showed a disturbing sense of comfort in the house and even made

food in the family's kitchen. Then he took the girl into the bathroom and bathed her to remove any

evidence on her body. When he left, he took a few vinyl records in a blue coat from

the house. A police investigation turned up no evidence. On December 27, 1988, the man broke into the home

...