Old scholar will spend no time behind bars after sexually abusing schoolgirl he got drunk

A private school old scholar who got his sister’s 16-year-old friend drunk before sexually assaulting her, has learned his fate in court. The victim told the court she was a “shell” of her former self.

A South-East man who supplied booze to a girl who had just turned 16, then sexually assaulting her, has learned his fate.

The victim was friend’s with the man’s little sister, both attending a prestigious Adelaide private school. The girl had come to the South-East for a short holiday, a court has heard.

The man, 21, was an old scholar from that school but cannot be identified as a suppression order has been enacted to protect the identity of his victim.

The girl was at a bonfire with her friends, when the man and two other men came, bringing booze with them.

“You gave the girls some beer to drink,” Judge Geraldine Davison said.

“(The victim) felt pretty drunk as it was the first time she had drank that much alcohol.”

As the girl struggled to keep her eyes open, the man began to touch the girl, unhooking her bra, a court has heard.

The man’s little sister came over and told the victim to “get off” before angrily storming off.

The victim began to run off in the opposite direction, a court has heard.

“You caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist,” Judge Davison said.

The man then proceeded to take off the girl’s clothes before having sex with her.

“You do not dispute that the victim was not consenting – nor was she a willing participant,” Judge Davison said.

She was left shaking and hyperventilating following the incident, a court has heard.

Charges of indecent assault and rape were withdrawn by prosecution.

The man pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 17 in the Mount Gambier District Court.

The girl bravely confronted her abuser in court on Thursday detailing how the abuse left her a “shell” of her former self.

“(I) fear closing my eyes or sleeping – I would often wake up in a sweat,” she said.

The girl said she struggled with feelings of deep shame, which were exacerbated when her parents learned the truth.

A teenager has confronted an old scholar from her prestigious private school after he sexually abused her nine days after her 16th birthday. Picture: istock image

“I had only been 16 for nine days,” she said.

“He took everything – I couldn’t even look in the mirror.”

The girl was forced to take a six-month leave from school and now suffers from anxiety, depression and PTSD.

The girl’s father struggled to address the court as he described the difficulty of watching on “helpless” as his daughter struggled.

“The emotional rollercoaster has not stopped and we live the aftermath every day,” he said.

The South-East man’s defence lawyer Andrew Culshaw asked the court to show leniency asking for any term of imprisonment to be suspended.

Though Judge Davison said “a term of imprisonment is the only appropriate penalty in all circumstances” the man will spend no time behind bars.

Mr Culshaw said the defendant was a “upstanding member of the community”.

The court heard the man was involved with a brigade of community firefighters in the recent Lucindale fire, which claimed the life of CFS volunteer Louise Hincks.

After a 10 per cent discount was applied, the man was sentenced to two years, eight months and 13 days with a non parole of one year and three months.

Judge Davison said given the man’s age, remorsefulness and belief at the time that the “sexual conduct was consensual”, she suspended the sentence on a three-year good behaviour bond.