A 29-year-old man has been handed over nine years’ jail by the ACT Supreme Court. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual abuse.
When an 18-year-old woman was looking through her boyfriend’s phone, she made a horrific discovery.
In September 2022, he used his phone to record videos of himself repeatedly raping and spitting on her face while she was unconscious after he injected her with drugs.
The videos even showed her snoring while he repositioned her limp body before continuing to abuse her.
“When someone is under the influence of drugs, they cannot consent to sex,” she messaged him after discovering the videos.
“I am a shell of a human.”
She remembered the night he repeatedly raped her, because she had woken up in a hotel room covered in bruises, violently ill with blood over the bed sheets.
She went to police and her boyfriend, aged in his mid-20s at the time, was arrested and remanded in custody before another man came forward.
Before the assaults on the woman, this second victim had been in a long-term relationship with the man.
In early 2021, the second victim passed out after taking drugs, then when he woke up the man told him he’d had anal sex with him while unconscious.
Later that year, this victim took drugs before waking up naked. The man then showed him a video of the man having sex with someone on a bed.
“It’s you,” the man told him.
“I just had sex with you when you passed out.”
The man, now aged 29 but not named to protect his victim’s identities, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of capturing visual data.
The ACT Supreme Court also had to sentence him for another count of capturing visual data and a count of assault.
On Thursday (22 May), Justice Belinda Baker said when the woman first saw the horrific videos, she “knew what had happened, but still didn’t understand”.
“A part of me did die there. The offender killed a part of me,” the woman said.
Justice Baker said the man had filmed himself committing “a degrading, graphic sexual assault” on the woman and noted he had taken advantage of the second victim’s unconscious state to “violate him”.
“The offences have caused profound harm to the victims,” she said.
The man worked in retail before stopping and getting welfare payments.
He was a long-time drug user and was taking half a gram of meth every day before he was remanded in custody in October 2022.
He claimed he now felt ashamed, regretted causing harm to his victims and accepted he hurt them both.
The author of a pre-sentence report assessed him as being well-above the average risk of sexual reoffending.
Justice Baker accepted his moral culpability was reduced to some extent due to his serious mental health struggles, which included bipolar disorder, ADHD and somnophilia disorder, which is the sexual attraction to a person who is asleep.
The man was convicted and sentenced to more than nine years and three months’ jail with a six-year non-parole period.
As his sentence was backdated to account for time served, he will be eligible to be released from November 2028.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
The route is already decided - it just hasn't been publicly admitted. It'll go down Commonwealth… View