Warwick District Court: Man, 24, walks free from court after sexually assaulting teenage girl

A Warwick court has heard the now-24-year-old inappropriately touched the teenage girl on several occasions, with the victim saying the offending has left her struggling with mental health and interacting with her peers.

A Warwick man has walked free from court after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl and close family friend, with the first incident taking place when the victim was as young as 13.

The now-24-year-old, who cannot be named, first inappropriately touched the girl on an unknown date between July, 2015 and April, 2018, grabbing the girl’s hand and rubbing it on his genital area over his pants while the pair were sitting on her bed.

Warwick District Court was told the second incident occurred between June, 2017 and the following January, with the man repeating the same action as the first incident before touching the girl’s breasts over her clothing.

The man’s offending came to light when he was spoken to by police following the girl’s initial complaint, with the 24-year-old volunteering much of the information that would eventually lead to his being charged.

Crown prosecutor Hamish McIntyre said the man was aged between 17 and 19 at the time of the assaults and his victim between 13 and 15, saying the multiple occasions meant the Warwick man’s offending remained serious despite him still being a teenager himself at the time.

Mr McIntyre also read parts of the girl’s victim impact statement to the court, saying she now had difficulties interacting with her peers at school and was struggling with her mental health following the offending.

The man

The court heard that the Warwick man and his victim had known one another for years as their parents were close friends, and the pair had been playing an online game with millions of viewers and participants called ‘Touch my Body’ at the time of the second incidents.

Defence barrister Jens Streit said his client had struggled with a number of intellectual impairments and mental health concerns including Asperger’s syndrome, social anxiety, and depressive disorders throughout much of his education and early adulthood.

He said the Warwick man had become even more withdrawn throughout the court proceedings, and now struggled to leave the house without a family member or support person.

“He is somebody who, through no fault of his own, suffers significant and debilitating mental circumstances and he deals with that on a daily basis,” Mr Streit said.

“(In) his plans for the future, he hopes to move out of his parents’ house and become more independent, and hopes to find a partner and one day have his own family.”

Mr Streit also submitted to the court a letter from the Warwick man’s psychologist, which said he was receiving ongoing treatment and was currently considered a low risk of reoffending.

Judge Michael Burnett said the man’s clean criminal history and the circumstances surrounding the second incident suggested there was a “degree of experimentation” for both parties involved in the offending.

He described the man’s intellectual impairments as a “double-edged sword”, saying they both slightly reduced his moral culpability but increased the need for community protection.

“Of course, the (man) was at an age where he was an adult – nonetheless, it might account for why he’s engaged in this behaviour,” Judge Burnett said.

“You were both teenagers, although you were four years senior to her, but acknowledging your intellectual disability perhaps somewhat balances the ledger.

“It’s important young women in our community are protected as much from themselves as from people who seek to commit these sorts of offences.”

The man pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16.

He was sentenced to six months’ jail, wholly suspended for 18 months, and placed on probation for 12 months.