01:52 EDT, 17 December 2020
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A young doctor has broken down in tears upon recounting her terrifying encounter with a man who allegedly raped a jogger in a sadistic attack.
Joel Russo, 26, is accused of repeatedly raping his victim on December 3 last year as she ran along the Merri Creek in Melbourne s north.
The doctor claimed a man fitting Russo s description jumped into her car the same day as she was leaving a clinic on Bell Street - a short distance from where the eventual attack happened.
Russo (pictured) is accused of holding his alleged victim s head under water and choking her