Child sex offender breaches suspended sentence by stealing, committing burglaries due to homelessness

A man who sexually abused his teenage sister breached his suspended sentence for the abuse by carrying out burglary, stealing and property offences due to being homeless after his incarceration. Read more here.

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A man who sexually abused his teenage sister breached his suspended sentence for the abuse by carrying out burglary, stealing and property offences due to being homeless after his incarceration.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was dealt with for his breaches in Rockhampton District Court last week.

Crown prosecutor Claire Brtevnik said the defendant, who has a 15-page criminal record, was sentenced in October 2021 to two years prison suspended after serving 12 months with an operational period of five years for two counts of indecent treatment of a child and one of indecent treatment of a child by exposure.

She said the victim was 13 at the time the defendant, who is 28 now, sexually abused her over two days.

Ms Brtevnik said the defendant entered her room one night in 2020, waking her up.

She said the victim asked the defendant to leave.

“She got up and tried to push the defendant out of the room but he pushed her back onto her bed and laid on top of her,” Ms Brtevnik said.

She said the defendant rubbed his body against the child’s.

Ms Brtevnik said after sexual touching, the defendant kissed the child and bit her.

The defendant left the room momentarily after the girl threatened to get their mother, returning to lay on top of her again and biting her upper thigh.

The victim kicked the defendant and managed to push him out of her room.

The defendant masturbated in front of the child the following day as they sat in the lounge room.

The victim got up to leave the room and the defendant followed her.

“He pushed her against a wall but fortunately their mother walked in at that time,” Ms Brtevnik said.

She said the mother noticed marks on the child and the girl told her what had happened.

Ms Brtevnik said the defendant committed the first of the breach offences four months into the operational period of the suspended sentence.

The defendant committed 10 offences including burglaries, receiving tainted property, stealing items and committing fraud offences over a three-month period in 2022 which breached the suspended sentence.

Ms Brtevnik said a court report about the defendant’s parole supervision stated “the defendant demonstrated minimal insight into his offending behaviour, minimal disregard for the conditions of the order, failed to engage in intervention and failed a urine test”.

Defence barrister Sheridan Shaw said her client was homeless after his release from prison during the breach offending period.

She said he had been in stable accommodation but had disputes with people living there which led to his homelessness.

The defendant’s criminal record included drug offences.

Judge Katherine McGinness said the parole report was “unimpressive”.

She activated 12 months of his child sex abuse prison term and set his parole eligibility on October 10, 2022.