She was walking home after a party in Melbourne. Three men were hunting to 'find a girl'.

It was supposed to be a fun night out with friends.

In the early hours of January 23, 1988, a 19-year-old woman and her friend finished partying at the Linden Tree in St Kilda, Victoria, a late-night bar known for its good music.

They said their goodbyes, and the teenager began walking home down Carlisle Street. She was alone.

Suddenly, hands grabbed her from behind, and she was shoved into the back seat of a car.

It's every woman's worst fear. She screamed for help, but the three men who had snatched her covered her mouth. They then drove the woman to nearby Elwood Beach, where they took turns raping her.

After the assault, the men shoved the 19-year-old out of the vehicle.

Traumatised, she managed to run to a friend's home nearby. She reported the incident to police and underwent a forensic medical examination. But the attackers were not discovered.

For close to four decades, the victim lived with the knowledge that her rapists roamed freely in the streets, evading justice.

"My life changed that night for the worse and has had nothing but negative impacts on my life since," she wrote in a statement to court.

But four years ago, police had a breakthrough.

Watch: Breaking the silence — Reporting historical sexual assault. Post continues after video.

In 2021, a man named Travis Scott Rielly, 58, was arrested in Queensland on unrelated dangerous driving charges.

Police obtained a sample of his genetic material. Testing revealed that his DNA matched samples taken from the 19-year-old woman over 30 years ago.

Police waited for Rielly to be released on parole in Queensland before they extradited him to Victoria in October.

Rielly admitted he and two other men abducted the woman off a St Kilda street, in Melbourne's inner southeast, during the early hours of January 23, 1988.

He'd met his accomplices at a house party on the night of the rape, he told police. They'd gone out on the town with the intention of finding a woman they'd all have sex with.

Judge Gerard Mullaly said the plan, "crystallised as a rape when you came across the victim in St Kilda."

Rielly said he did not remember much else from the night, and he never saw the co-accused again. Instead, he left on a backpacking trip around Australia shortly after.

He pleaded guilty to the aggravated rape charge in the Victorian County Court in August.

Judge Mullaly said Rielly might not remember the attack, but his victim had suffered long and enduring trauma as a result of his crime.

The woman, now in her 50s, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and agoraphobia, and has been unable to hold down a job. She had been an aspiring painter and was due to start an art course when she was attacked.

The victim also shared a statement to the court, saying her "life was, in effect, ruined" after the attack. 

"My life changed that night for the worse," she wrote. "A bleak and ongoing struggle just to purely exist... no more art, no more dreams, no more self-satisfaction."

Rielly provided an apology letter to the victim, saying he regretted his actions.

"All I can offer is my heartfelt sorrow," he wrote. "I am horrified for what I caused you to have in your life."

Judge Mullaly said that Rielly's apology, alongside his early guilty plea, demonstrated genuine remorse.

Rielly had lived a mostly law-abiding life in the years since the rape and would likely continue that lifestyle once released, the judge said.

But Mullaly ultimately found denouncing the "deplorable" conduct was the most important sentencing consideration.

"This is every woman walking alone in the street's nightmare," Judge Mullaly said in sentencing. "You men caused the victim utter terror from the outset by grabbing her from behind and forcing her into the car.

"She was vulnerable and you knew it."

Rielly dropped his head as Mullaly sentenced him on Tuesday. The 58-year-old was jailed for nine years and nine months. He will be eligible for parole after six-and-a-half years.

If you or anyone you know needs to speak with an expert, please contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) — the National Sexual Assault, domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service.

Written with AAP

Feature Image: Getty (Stock image for illustrative purposes only).