Toowoomba aged care cook Chris Weiske guilty of ‘heinous, predatory’ sexual assault
Through a woman’s tears and protest, a Toowoomba man repeatedly followed and sexually assaulted the victim while she desperately tried to wake her friend so she could escape his home, a court heard.
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A Toowoomba man who aspires to work with the community’s most vulnerable has pleaded guilty to the “predatory” and persistent sexual assault of a young woman despite her tears and pleas for him to stop.
Former aged care cook Christopher Lee Weiske, 32, pleaded guilty to the sexual assault at the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday, May 20, about six months after he was charged with the “heinous” crime.
The aspiring disability support worker was originally charged with four counts of sexual assault, which pertained to the one protracted incident in late 2024, however the court heard his lawyer successfully negotiated the dismissal of three of the charges.
The court heard Weiske met the woman and her friend on a night out in the Toowoomba CBD, and the trio went back to his house to continue drinking, and the offending began when the complainant’s friend passed out.
They were not known to each other.
Police prosecutor Anita Page said Weiske silently approached the young woman, who was sitting on a couch, and grabbed at her inner thighs and chest.
She pushed him away and said she was going to sleep before she went into a room and lay in bed with her friend.
After going in and out of the room a few times, Ms Page said Weiske crawled into bed between the women before again groping the victim’s chest.
She told him to stop and pushed him away, before he again assaulted the woman, this time grabbing at her vagina, chest, and backside.
Ms Page said the woman broke out in tears and fled the room, however Weiske followed her and continued the sexual assault.
She said she wanted to leave his home.
The woman returned to her friend to wake her up, but she couldn’t be roused, so she again lay next to her.
Soon after, Weiske again crawled into the bed, this time he not only grouped at her body, but also rubbed his erect penis on her, the court heard.
Through tears, again the woman pleaded for him to stop, which he did after sexually assaulting her one last time.
When arrested and questioned by police later the same day, Ms Page said Weiske told officers he had kissed the woman’s friend at some point during the night and he had wanted to have a threesome with the women, however he was too drunk to recall the sexual assault.
Ms Page said there was no excuse for Weiske’s prolonged and predatory behaviour, noting the court was open to imposing a jail term, especially given his persistence.
Donnelly Law Group senior lawyer Hannah Wallace told the court Weiske’s mental health was bad at the time of the offence, noting he didn’t recall the whole evening because he had been drinking from about 4pm to 1am.
Ms Wallace said the absent father of two had been sober since he sexually assaulted the woman, and he was deeply ashamed and highly remorseful.
Magistrate Kay Ryan told Weiske his actions were especially heinous and inexcusable.
However, she noted there were a number of factors present that mitigated his punishment, such as his lack of criminal history, guilty plea, and lengthy steps the man had taken to improve his mental health and rehabilitate himself.
Weiske was sentenced to an 18-month probation order with a special requirement that he be subject to psychiatric treatment.
No conviction was recorded to aid Weiske in his continued rehabilitation efforts and work aspirations within the aged care and disability sectors.
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Originally published as Toowoomba aged care cook Chris Weiske guilty of ‘heinous, predatory’ sexual assault
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