Warning: This story contains graphic content.
The Perth mother of a child choked and sexually assaulted as she slept in her bedroom has tearfully described how the crime has turned her family’s life upside down.
Paedophile Callum Davies, 28, was sentenced to almost two decades behind bars in Perth District Court on Tuesday for breaking into an Ellenbrook home in December 2021, and committing depraved violence against a seven-year-old girl as the rest of her family slept.
The child’s mother and father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, faced their daughter’s attacker in court to give an emotional victim impact statement.
“Our lives are changed forever by the actions of a stranger who in the early hours of one morning managed to inflict a lifetime of pain on our family,” the mother said.
“For our daughter, the emotional toll has been immeasurable, she is different now, she is fearful and withdrawn. Her innocence was cruelly taken from her.”
The mother said the child was no longer able to sleep without one of her parents being with her.
“My heart is constantly broken that my child now carries these emotional scars,” she said.
“I feel an enormous sense of guilt for not protecting her. It’s unfathomable that our seven-year-old child endured such trauma in a place where she is supposed to be safe.”
A court sketch of Callum Davies. Credit: Courtesy of court sketch artist Anne Barnetson.
The court was told Davies, who had no prior criminal history, was initially looking for a house to burgle when he targeted the family’s home.
While inside, he noticed a child’s name on one of the bedroom doors and entered the room. The child woke up, and he tried unsuccessfully to cover her mouth with tape before attempting to choke her unconscious.
He used extreme force during the offending against the girl, who was so afraid she wet her pants.
During the sexual assault, Davies claimed he became disgusted in himself and stopped, placing the girl back into her bed, where she fell asleep.
The following morning, the girl was crying, distressed and shaking, and told her parents of a man in her room who hurt her in the night.
Her parents were so concerned, they took her for a medical exam where a doctor confirmed the girl had been strangled and penetrated.
A manhunt was launched, with police releasing CCTV of a man jumping the side fence of the family’s home. Davies handed himself in shortly afterwards.
Judge David MacLean found Davies treated the victim as an object for his own sexual gratification.
He said Davies’ diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and an unspecified psychotic disorder mildly impaired his capacity to make calm and rational choices. However, MacLean found the dominating factor in his offending was his paedophilic interest.
CCTV showed Callum Davies walking the streets of Ellenbrook the night of the attack.
“You were in control, and you understood it was wrong,” he said.
“You were prepared to and did use significant violence against a seven-year-old child who was sleeping soundly in her bedroom in her own house.”
Davies was convicted of two counts of impeding a person’s breathing or circulation, one count of sexually penetrating a child under 13, one count of indecently dealing with a child under 13 and one court of aggravated home burglary.
Often during his sentencing, Davies sat in the dock and stared blankly.
He was jailed for 18 years. With time already served, he will be eligible for parole in 2037.
A lifetime restraining order was also issued against him to protect his victim.
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