Shaun Bloomfield, Luke Merryfull: Rapists walk free after ‘appalling’ party rape
Two convicted rapists have avoided further jail time despite a judge labelling their actions “appalling”.
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Two convicted rapists have walked free despite a judge labelling their actions “appalling”.
Shaun Bloomfield and Luke Merryfull, both 28, appeared before the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday after they were found guilty following a jury trial in August last year.
The court heard the two men raped a young woman in a caravan at a 21st birthday party in regional Victoria in April 2016.
Many of the attendees had been drinking heavily that night, with the victim trying to go to sleep in the early hours of the morning when the offending occurred.
Once others inside the caravan had left, Merryfull suggested a threesome – which the victim “immediately and clearly rejected”.
“What she simply wanted to do was fall asleep in the caravan to wake the next day,” Judge David Brookes said.
She was digitally raped by Bloomfield before Merryfull removed his pants and raped her.
When he finished he said words to the effect of: “she’s all yours now”.
Judge Brookes said the wording showed a concerning level of “callousness” towards the victim as merely a sex object.
Merryfull then left the caravan, with Bloomfield forcing the woman to touch his penis before raping her.
He stopped after the woman pushed him in the chest, with both men leaving the party shortly after.
Both men have maintained the incident was consensual.
The pair had initially been jailed in 2019, but had their convictions overturned in the Court of Appeal the following year after new evidence emerged.
Both men were released after serving about 19 months of their sentences.
The men faced three retrials in subsequent years until a jury found Bloomfield guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault and Merryfull guilty of one count of rape in August last year.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Brookes found both men knew she wasn’t consenting.
“Each of you knew she wasn’t consenting but you went ahead believing or hoping nothing would come of it,” he said.
He found both men had demonstrated significant rehabilitation and were not a risk of reoffending.
“In my view, this is one of the rare cases where ordinary members of the community would not necessarily expect a further term of imprisonment be imposed,” Judge Brookes found.
“It does not excuse the appalling behaviour that each of you demonstrated.”
Bloomfield was sentenced to time served and a three-year community corrections order. He will have to complete 300 hours of community service.
Merryfull received a sentence of time served and will have to complete a two-year community corrections order with 200 hours of service.
“Any breach of that community corrections order may result in you coming back to be resentenced,” Judge Brookes said.
Originally published as Shaun Bloomfield, Luke Merryfull: Rapists walk free after ‘appalling’ party rape
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