William Green: Man fronts Ipswich court for filming sex without consent

The court heard the father-of-three fed a woman liquid ecstasy and waited until she was “passed out” on the couch before filming himself have sex with her.

A father-of-three has walked free from court after giving a woman liquid ecstasy and recording himself having sex with her.

William Green, 33, from Roma faced and pleaded guilty to one charge of recording in breach of privacy in Ipswich District Court on Friday April 1, 2022.

Crown prosecutor Michelle Parfitt told the court the offence occurred on an unknown date between March 31 and May 28, 2020, after Green gave a woman liquid ecstasy.

The court heard she began to feel unwell and laid down on a couch.

“At some point, while she was passed out on the couch, the defendant entered the room and recorded himself having sexual intercourse with her,” Ms Parfitt said.

“During the recording, he can be seen unbuttoning her shirt, exposing her breasts, and repositioning her pants.”

He then proceeded to engage in sexual intercourse with her, during which she woke up.

The ordeal continued for about five minutes, with Green telling the woman afterwards: “I filmed that”.

The following day, he told the woman there was “something” on her phone. She opened it and discovered the video file.

“She did not consent to the recording being made,” Ms Parfitt said.

The woman subsequently attended a police station and gave authorities the file.

Upon being questioned by police, Green admitted to being the person in the footage and to making the recording.

The court heard he had a three-page criminal history and was sentenced in the Toowoomba Supreme Court in June last year for a number of offences including unlawful carnal knowledge.

On that occasion, he received a head sentence of three years’ imprisonment which was suspended after serving 12 months in custody for an operational period of three years. He was also sentenced to a two-year probation order.

Green had been remanded in custody between August 3, 2020 and October 11 last year, for a period of 435 days, returning on March 1 this year to spend another 31 days in custody until Friday.

Ms Parfitt said Green had breached the woman’s trust by filming the “private and intimate” activity without her consent.

The court heard the 33-year-old, who was born in Ipswich and raised in Laidley, had a “difficult” upbringing after his father passed when he was young.

Green’s own marriage broke down some years ago and his relationship with his three children, aged between five and nine years, was no longer strong.

Defence barrister Justin Thomas said he had been addicted to meth, with his drug use often getting in the way of him caring for his children the way he would like to.

The court heard he had been working while in custody and had hopes to resume his relationship with his family.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC said it was clear that would not be possible if he continued on his current trajectory.

“It’s obvious to me, I hope it’s obvious to you, that you won’t be able to do that if you return to using drugs,” he told Green.

Mr Lynch said the offence before the court on Friday demonstrated a “significant breach of trust” and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment, declaring six months already served, meaning he had already completed his sentence.

Green will remain on probation until June 22, 2023 as a consequence of the Supreme Court sentence imposed last year.