Man jailed after sexual offences, including rape, against two teenagers
A 20-year-old man from New South Wales has been sentenced to prison time after pleading guilty to sexual offences, including rape. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
In short:
A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to jail time after pleading guilty to sexual offences including rape.
The charges relate to two separate incidents against two teenage victims in 2023.
What's next?
The man was sentenced to four years and six months behind bars to be suspended after two years.
A 20-year-old man kept his head bowed as he was sentenced to more than four years in jail for sexual offences, including rape, against two teenage girls in Canberra two years ago.
Warning: Readers are advised this story contains distressing content.
The New South Wales man, who was 18 at the time, was staying at a tourist park to attend Summernats in 2023 when he met the girls, aged 15 and 16.
The girls, who did not know each other, were staying at the same accommodation while on holidays with their families.
During his sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court, the court heard the man met the 15-year-old girl in the park's pool, where they talked about where they were from and what they were doing in the ACT.
When the girl got out of the pool, he grabbed her breasts and buttocks and pushed her back into the pool, then continued touching her inappropriately in the water.
She later found bruising on her wrists, where the man had grabbed her.
The man encouraged the girl to sneak out of her accommodation to meet him later that night, which she did.
According to the facts, the man ignored the girl when she told him she didn't want to kiss him.
The man would go on to rape the girl on a picnic table, ignoring repeated pleas from her to stop.
In her sentencing remarks, Acting Justice Rebecca Christensen said the man "callously took advantage" of the girl, adding there were "concerning aspects of intimidation and control" in his behaviour.
"His conduct was entirely directed towards his own sexual gratification with little regard to her sexual autonomy,"Acting Justice Christensen said.
"It was a place where she was entitled to feel safe and enjoy her holiday."
Instead, she endured the "destruction to her innocence," she said.
The second victim felt scared
The man pursued his second victim in a similar way — he met her in the park's pool and encouraged her to sneak out to meet him, which she did not do.
On several occasions while they were in the pool, he squeezed her breasts and buttocks, and threw her across the water, ignoring her repeated requests for him to stop.
The girl said she felt scared of the man and afraid of what he would do to her, even having a panic attack in the bathroom area next to the pool.
She also found bruising under her arms, where the man had grabbed and thrown her.
Acting Justice Christiansen said, as with the first victim, the girl was entitled to feel safe with her family, adding the man "ignored and disregarded her" when she verbalised her discomfort.
Both girls, who were visiting Canberra from elsewhere in the country, told their families what happened after leaving the tourist park and the matter was referred to ACT Policing.
'Grave' impact on victims
During sentencing, the court heard about the "grave" toll the man's action had taken on both victims with the then 15-year-old described as happy and confident before the assault.
The court heard that had been taken away from her.
"She feels shameful and uncomfortable in her own skin," Acting Justice Christensen said.
"The victim now struggles to trust others, her perspective of the world having been destroyed."
She also suffers with immense anxiety and experiences flashbacks and nightmares.
The second victim, who was 16 at the time, has had suicidal thoughts and has been diagnosed with mental health conditions since the offending.
"She describes being a shell of what she once was and deeply struggling to find a way to heal and rebuild what was taken from her,"Acting Justice Christensen said.
The court also heard about the anger, rage, disgust and guilt both girls' parents feel about what happened to their daughters.
In determining an appropriate sentence, Acting Justice Christensen said she considered the significant remorse the man has shown and that he had acknowledged the impact of his actions.
She also took into account the hardship a prison sentence would cause to his partner, who is pregnant with their first child, but found a "full time period of imprisonment the only appropriate punishment".
"I do not find that this is an occasion for mercy," she said.
"This was considerable, serious offending that has caused grave harm to the victims and the families."
The man was sentenced to four years and six months behind bars to be suspended after two years.