Model pressured into being naked, touched inappropriately by Brisbane amateur photographer Sukesh Ranjan Roy, 48,

A young Brisbane model says she has left the industry after she was pressured into taking off her clothes and inappropriately touched by a photographer twice her age during a photo shoot at Mount Coot-Tha.

Sukesh Ranjan Roy leaves Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to common assault. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / John Gass

A young Brisbane model says she has left the industry after she was pressured into taking off her clothes and inappropriately touched by a photographer twice her age during a photo shoot at Mount Coot-Tha.

Amateur photographer Sukesh Ranjan Roy, 48, touched the 21-year-old victim on her groin and stomach while placing flowers on her body during the private photo shoot in a secluded area of bushland near the botanic gardens in June 2021.

Roy, a professional IT consultant who has contracted to major organisations including KMPG, the Queensland University of Technology, British Telecom, and the City of Gold Coast, was also moonlighting as a photographer at the time of the offending.

He had been due to face trial on charges of extortion and sexual assault but the Crown discontinued those matters and he instead pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of common assault.

Crown Prosecutor Sandra Cupina said the victim, who was working as an actor and model, had met Roy over an online talent casting platform where they arranged to do the photo shoot.

When she arrived, Roy introduced himself as ‘AJ’ and they began taking photographs at various locations, moving further into bushland after he commented on lighting issues.

“While at Mount Coot-Tha the defendant pressured the complainant into participating in an implied nude photo shoot and told her to remove clothing,” Ms Cupina said.

“The defendant ultimately pressured her into being naked. (The complainant) stressed that she wasn’t comfortable. The defendant assured her private areas were out of focus or blurred.”

“The common assault occurred when he placed fake flowers on her vagina and there was a touching of her groin area and her stomach.”

Ms Cupina said the woman ended the shoot and left, ultimately making a complaint to the police and the website where they had connected.

The prosecutor said the offending was “deliberate and degrading” and exploited the woman’s vulnerability.

The complainant told the court she lacked self-confidence and had done the photo shoot as a way of building herself up.

“I wanted to feel beautiful,” she said.

“Aside from not never working in the modelling or performing arts industry as had long been my aspiration, I can no longer have my picture taken by another person without recalling this incident and how disgusting it made me feel.

“How much I’ve grown to hate the things about me that make me a desirable or easy target.”

She said she could not look at a camera lens without feeling panic, and always expected the worst from people who complimented her.

“I will also never enjoy the beauty of any botanic garden again because it makes me sick to think about them,” she said.

“Going through this process is enough suffering to break down even the most resilient of us.

“It’s naive to hope that any kind of sanction will be commensurate to the harm caused by this.”

Defence barrister Terry Morgans said Roy was a married father who became an Australian citizen after moving from India in 2008.

Mr Morgans said Roy was an IT professional who worked with major corporations and had no criminal history, submitting the recording of a conviction could impact his future employment prospects.

The court heard Roy was community minded and regularly volunteered at a soup kitchen and food bank and donated to charity.

Judge Tony Moynihan KC praised the complainant’s bravery in reading her victim impact statement to the court.

“The victim has suffered harm and been adversely affected as a result of your offending,” he told Roy.

“The act relied on as constituting the offence is that when you were positioning some fake flowers on the complainant’s body near her vagina, you touched her groin and stomach.

“That conduct was deliberate …”

Roy was fined $1500 and a conviction was recorded.