Hunter Riley Campbell jailed for rape, indecent assault in Mackay

A former Queensland high school student who violated a woman multiple times while she passed in and out of consciousness on a couch told his devastated victim he was sorry and that he was ‘sick in the head’. Warning: Disturbing content

Hunter Riley Campbell faced Mackay District Court on Thursday, November 16, 2023.

A young man has “emotionally torn” a woman “to pieces” after he raped her multiple times while she passed in and out of consciousness on a couch.

Former Pioneer State High School student Hunter Riley Campbell sat in the dock as Mackay District Court heard details of his “most abhorrent” offending on August 3 last year.

Crown prosecutor Cameron Wilkins said Campbell had been out drinking with the woman when they returned to a Walkerston address.

“(She) was so intoxicated that she could not walk straight and had to close her eyes so as to not see double,” Mr Wilkins said.

She was sick in the bathroom and “drifting in and out of consciousness” before falling asleep on a futon.

Mr Wilkins said she remembered feeling pressure and waking up to see Campbell’s face near hers and his hand near her pants.

“He immediately said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry … I’m sick in the head’,” Mr Wilkins said.

She then fell back asleep before waking with an “extreme pain” and discovering Campbell’s fingers inside her vagina and anus.

Mr Wilkins said she went back to sleep before waking again to find Campbell fondling her nipples.

The next day, her urine was discoloured and there was blood from her vagina and anus.

Mr Wilkins said the victim four days later confronted Campbell and he said he was sorry, he had “f--ked up” but he had not “put his dick” in her, he “was just horny”.

Police then arranged a recorded phone call in December during which Campbell confessed and the next month, he took himself to the police station and was charged with two counts of rape plus unlawful and indecent assault.

‘I AM SO BROKEN’: VICTIM TELLS OF IMPACT

Defence barrister Scott McLennan, instructed by Wallace and Wallace, said the now 20 year old had “made a dreadful mistake whilst grossly intoxicated”.

“Despite his mistake, he still enjoys the support of his family,” Mr McLennan said, adding Campbell’s girlfriend and mother were in court to support him.

He asked Judge John Coker to consider keeping Campbell out of prison as he may lose his job, be exposed to the “corruptions of jail”, and a probation order would provide targeted interventions.

Judge Coker said he accepted Campbell’s early guilty pleas were a “reflection of genuine remorse” but his actions were a “gross breach of (the woman’s) right to her own body and her own circumstance”.

He said the victim described having been “emotionally torn to pieces” and she now suffered from flashbacks, nightmares and emotional, physical and financial damage.

“I still have trouble leaving the house some days even over a year on,” she wrote in her victim impact statement.

“I am so broken, I have trouble trusting men in my family.”

Judge Coker said the victim also described changing from an affectionate person to someone who flinched and felt “dirty and disgusting” when someone touched her.

“She also speaks of problems with her family and friends as she has no control over her emotions and she feels anger and sadness, there doesn’t appear to be anything in between,” he said.

The victim further described feeling like her “dignity had been ripped away from her” and her physical health had declined as she felt worthless and eats poorly.

“It is a powerful statement,” Judge Coker said, adding it was important to sentencing considerations.

He said the punishment must serve as a deterrence to other drunken young men but he noted Campbell was young, had no prior criminal history and was, excluding his “abhorrent” behaviour, an important member of the community.

For the two rape charges, Campbell was sentenced to two-and-a-half years jail to be suspended after serving four months with an operational period of three years.

For unlawful and indecent assault, he received a two year probation order.

Convictions were recorded.