Tony Piscitelli, 24, was sentenced on Monday to 16-and-a-half-years’ jail for the vicious rape of an 83-year-old woman in her Tuross Head home last April.

The “savage and callous attack” was almost in the “worst case” category of aggravated sexual assault, according to Wollongong District Court Judge David Frearson.

The sentence came as a relief for many Tuross residents, most of whom were happy to close the chapter and move on.

However, speaking to the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner, some said there was still an undercurrent of fear and nervous tension, felt particularly by the village’s many elderly residents.

“I never thought that it would happen here, in Tuross,” one woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.

“I moved here with mum in ‘86 and you could walk the streets at night with no problems. Not now, there are too many louts and loons about at night.”

A few streets over, another man said, despite feeling no personal danger, his elderly neighbours were constantly afraid.

“We didn’t have any (street) lights along here until recently,” he said.

“That’s made a huge difference. They come out of the pubs and walk this way, yelling and making noises. The police are too far away, and the old ones are too afraid to speak out. I’m not though, I come out and yell at them, get them to move on.”

The general consensus was that Tuross needs a stronger police presence.

With the closest 24-hour police station at Batemans Bay - 40 minutes away - residents still feel vulnerable.

“People who didn’t lock their doors before (the attack) probably do now, and that’s not a bad thing,” another woman said.

“But it would be a great weight off the minds of many if Tuross had its own police station. These problems aren’t going away, something has to be done.”