Townsville park ranger Haydn Troy Togo sentenced for sexually assaulting 15 year old girl

A Victorian teen was sexually assaulted on five occasions while she was visiting Townsville.

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A local park ranger who sexually assaulted a teenage girl has heard of the personal anguish she had endured for the last two years.

Haydn Troy Togo, 49, appeared in the Townsville District Court where he pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16.

Over a two-week period starting late August 2018, Togo sexually assaulted the girl on five occasions while she was visiting Townsville from Victoria.

The court heard Togo touched the girl eight separate times over the five occasions including on her breast, buttocks and genitals.

Crown prosecutor Molly Mahlouzarides read out a victim impact statement written by the teenager who was just 15-years-old at the time of the sexual assaults.

“I feel like this happening at such a young age will shape my entire life. I may come to terms with it one day but it is a memory I can never erase,” Ms Mahlouzarides read.

“It has consumed my life for the last two years. I can only hope at some stage it will stop consuming me.

“He should be held accountable for what he did. I was 15-years-old at the time. I was vulnerable.

“He has spent the last two years walking free doing whatever he wants. I feel like I have been in prison for the last two years when he should have been.”

The court heard how the girl told police about the offending on November 26, 2018.

When police arrested Togo eight months later, he initially claimed to not remember anything of the sexual assaults.

The court heard Togo had been a park ranger in Townsville and Cardwell for the past 10 years.

Defence barrister Michael Hibble acknowledged the offending had a “significant effect” on the child but said the assaults lacked common features.

“There are some elements of the offending which are perhaps absent which your honour often sees,” he said.

“There was no coercion or threats made or physical restraint.”

Mr Hibble presented character references describing him as “softly spoken” and culturally involved in the community.

Judge Lynham told Togo his offending was “persistent and intrusive in so far as your inappropriateness of your touchings”.

Togo was sentenced to two and a half years’ jail, to be suspended after serving 10 months.

Originally published as Townsville park ranger Haydn Troy Togo sentenced for sexually assaulting 15 year old girl