Joshua Slape jailed for 11 years for raping two women in swags at South East equestrian events

A rapist will spend a long time behind bars for destroying the lives of two women by attacking them in their swags at equestrian events in the South East.

A man who climbed into the swags of two women at equestrian events and raped them in a “gross breach of trust” has been jailed for at least seven years.

The District Court on Tuesday jailed Joshua James David Slape, 24, of Glenburnie, for 11 years for his vile acts that destroyed the lives of two women.

In sentencing, Judge Gordon Barrett said Slape attacked his first victim at an annual event hosted at the Slape family farm in June 2017.

After putting her children to sleep, the woman was woken by Slape before she was forced to perform sexual acts and then raped.

“The victim put up some resistance but she was anxious not to alert her son who was sleeping nearby (so) she gave up resistance,” Judge Barrett said.

“Your opportunistic offending against her was a gross breach of trust.”

Slape knew his second victim through the equestrian community before attacking her at the Kongorong Rodeo on January 7, 2018.

The court heard both women were known to him but neither had a relationship with him before he climbed into their swags and told them both “not to leave him sexually frustrated” before raping them.

After a judge alone trial, Judge Barrett in January found Slape guilty of three counts of rape, two counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape.

Rapist Joshua James David Slape was jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of rape in a judge alone trial. Picture: Facebook

In a her victim impact statement, one woman said she had struggled with anxiety and depression since the attack, was constantly on high alert when she was out and could no longer enjoy her hobby.

“I keep all the doors and blinds shut in the house, never opening them because I’m too scared to have them open,” the woman said.

“My life is very different now and I’m a different person to what I used to be. I wish I could be the confident, happy, outgoing person I was.”

The second victim said she had been through “a rollercoaster of emotions” since her assault.

“Some days I feel absolutely nothing, other days I feel every emotion possible,” she said.

“I know I am healing slowly from my trauma and I have come a long way but I still know I have a long way to be able to trust people again.”

The court heard Slape, who had worked as a farmhand and a truck driver, had shown no remorse for committing the “ultimate betrayal” against his victims.

Judge Barrett sentenced Slape to 11 years’ jail with a non-parole period of seven years.

The sentence was backdated to November 12, 2020.

*His conviction has been successfully appealed with his term of imprisonment quashed. See the details here.