On the run brutal rapist Christopher Empey sighted in NSW
A convicted Victorian rapist who is on the run with $8000 cash, his passport and an off-road motorbike was sighted on the NSW south coast last month, police say.
Police have spent more than a month hunting for Christopher William Empey, a 46-year-old registered sex offender who was convicted in November 2003 of brutally raping and stomping on the head of his then 30-year-old work colleague in the stairwell of a Southbank apartment building the previous July.
The victim was found covered in blood, and was admitted to hospital with facial fractures, a partly amputated right ear, brain damage and serious genital injuries.
She lost two litres of blood in the savage attack.
At the time, Justice Bernard Teague of the Supreme Court described Empey's crimes as "the acts of a monster", sentencing him to a minimum of 12 years' prison.
The manhunt for Empey began on November 23 after he failed to attend a scheduled court hearing by the Supreme Court with obligations to report for 15 years.
Empey was released on parole in January 2015, and in July this year an interim supervision order was issued to register the rapist as a serious sex offender.
Empey has prior violent convictions dating back to 1989.
Police say Empey has "significant" bush survival skills and initially believed he may be hiding out in Victoria's alpine foothills or in a remote location.
The last known location of Empey was at 5.53pm on November 22 on the corner of Baddaginnie-Warrenbayne and Mack roads in the Baddaginnie area.
Police found one of his GPS bracelets on the Baddaginnie-Warrenbayne Road just near the entrance to the Hume Highway on Saturday.
Investigators believed Empey was riding a yellow 2005 Suzuki DR650 motorcycle registration GD531 at the time he disappeared.
In early December, the same motorcycle was sold privately to Empey in Nowra in NSW, with police becoming aware of the sale after government paperwork was lodged.
Detectives do not believe the seller was aware of Empey's background when the motorcyle was purchased.
It’s not known if Empey has access to a motor vehicle.
His victim told The Age last month she was worried it was only a matter of time before he would hurt somebody else.
"You try to put it behind you and move forward but it never leaves you," she says.
"The fact he is out there somewhere makes me fear for my own life, but more than that, I am worried he will hurt somebody else."
Police have re-released an image of Empey in the hope someone recognises him and can provide information about his whereabouts.
Detectives have also released another recent image of him captured on CCTV in a Nowra store in December.
In this image, Empey appears unshaven and is still wearing the same clothing he absconded in.
It is also possible that he sustained some kind of injury, police said.
Police are keen to speak to anyone who lives in the Nowra area, or visitors travelling to the region, who may have sighted him.
Investigators are also keen to speak to anyone who has sighted Empey since the sale of the motorcycle and can provide information on his movements or current whereabouts.
Anyone who sights Empey is urged not to approach him but to contact triple zero immediately.