Aleksandar Ivanovski leaves the ACT Courts as his bail was continued on Monday. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault.
Choosing to fight for herself was the hardest choice she ever had to make, a survivor of sexual violence told a court in the ACT’s first ‘stealthing’ case to reach sentencing.
Aleksandar Ivanovski was found guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent in an ACT Supreme Court jury trial earlier this year.
Jurors heard he went to a Canberra brothel in December 2021 and engaged the services of a sex worker.
He asked if he could have sex with her without a condom, but she refused.
She said that while he initially agreed, she later saw him bending down to pick the condom up from the floor at the end of the session.
The term ‘stealthing’ refers to removing a condom without a partner’s consent during sex, an act the ACT made illegal in 2021.
While Ivanovski was not the first person to be charged with ‘stealthing’ in the Territory, he is the first person to reach sentencing for the crime, as the other cases remain before the courts.
During his sentencing hearing on Monday (26 May), the woman who survived his abuse told the court she had been grappling with what he had done for the last four years.
“From this experience, I’ve gained nothing but turmoil,” she said.
“But I always had a choice.
“I could have chosen to let this go and be quiet. Despite the pain and suffering, I made the choice to move forward.”
The woman said she could not place a dollar value on what it meant to be believed and she was eternally grateful to those who helped her speak her truth.
She called Ivanovski a predator and said she hoped he found it in his soul to become a better person.
Afterwards, the court heard he still denied any sexual offending when speaking to a forensic psychologist.
Prosecutor Tamzin Lee argued the offending occurred because he “wanted to have sex without a condom”.
She said attitudes towards sexual offending continued to evolve within the community and argued the court should not find ‘stealthing’ was a less serious form of the charge of sexual intercourse without consent.
Ms Lee also argued Ivanovski demonstrated a complete disregard for and dehumanisation of the survivor.
Defence barrister Joshua Nottle said while the woman was interviewed by police two days after the incident, the police then undertook “no diligent investigation”.
He said police spoke to his client in September 2022, and he willingly gave them a DNA sample, then nothing happened, and he was not charged until June 2023.
There had been no reasonable explanation for the delay, Mr Nottle said.
He said, given his client’s recent mental health and drug-use issues, as well as the fact he hadn’t been convicted of this sort of crime before, he was entitled to some form of leniency.
Ms Lee asked for the court to impose a full-time jail sentence. Mr Nottle said his client had been found suitable for an intensive corrections order, which is a community-based sentence, otherwise he asked for a partly-suspended sentence.
Acting Justice John Burns will sentence Ivanovski, who remains on bail, on 6 June.
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.
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