Wade Sullivan jailed for horror Coffs Harbour sexual assault

A NSW man unleashed a ‘terrifying’ series of abuse against a woman who sought an abortion. His degrading conduct included threatening to kill her family and Snapchatting a sex video.

Wade Sullivan has been jailed for 13 years for vile abuse of his partner when she was considering an abortion. Source: iStock / Getty Images

A North Coast man has been jailed for 13 years for unleashing a “terrifying” series of abuse against a woman who sought to terminate a pregnancy.

Wade Sullivan’s vile conduct included recording a forced sex act, sharing intimate videos of the pair on Snapchat, threatening to kill her family and a torrent of violent assaults.

Judge Jonathon Priestley described Sullivan’s trail of abuse and intimidation to demonstrate his opposition to an abortion as “extreme” and “terrifying”.

“The events read like a horror story set in some remote lawless wasteland,” he said in his sentencing remarks.

“This is an extreme case of intimidation … carried on over a period of four days,” he said.

“It is conduct that would appear to be designed to totally humiliate and degrade the victim.

“It shows the offender trying to exert his will over that of the victim and is very controlling.

“It reaches a new level with the graphic threats to kill.”

Sullivan, 29, pleaded guilty in Coffs Harbour District Court on September 9 to choking with intent to commit another offence, sexual assault while depriving liberty and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.

He further pleaded guilty to distributing an intimate image, recording an intimate image without consent, four counts of intimidation, two counts of assault and a breaching an AVO.

The court heard that in August 2020 after discovering the woman had fallen pregnant, Sullivan argued with her in a shopping centre carpark.

An AVO was served on him after he punched her in the face but later that same month he punched her in the face again, this time knocking her out cold.

After the woman’s mother told Sullivan her daughter had lost her unborn child, he began sending abusive text messages.

“I really really really really really really hope you did loss the kid u lying dog ay”, he said in one, later texting “next time i see u i will jump on ur head ay c--t” (sic).

The torrent of abuse continued for three hours, before Sullivan informed the victim he was outside her house in what Judge Priestley said must have been “frightening”.

The court heard Sullivan made “extensive: threats over following weeks including an ultimatum that she visit him or he would kill her family.

This concluded with a text from Sullivan saying that he did not care if he went to jail because everyone he loved or cared about would be dead.

“You killed my baby, dog,” he said before promising she would live “a very very painful life”.

The woman went to a cemetery to visit her father’s cremation post on September 3, 2020, when Sullivan appeared on a motorbike and accused her of killing his baby.

“He came up behind her on a motorbike and tried to kick her feet out from underneath her,” Judge Priestley said.

“He was yelling at her to ‘get on the fucking bike’, and yelling at her to talk to him and that she killed his baby.

“This offending is made worse given that it follows the intense intimidation of only the day before.

“It occurred in an area where there were likely not many people about.

“There was the attempted kick and the demand that the victim depart the scene with him when clearly she did not wish to.

“(Sullivan) swung his arm out in a coat hanger manoeuvre, hitting the side of the victim’s jaw with such force as to knock her off her feet and cause her to fall to the ground.

“Scared that she would be hurt again, she got on the bike.

“He then took her to his father’s house and started yelling again calling her a whore and accusing her of killing his baby and of sleeping with the whole town.”

Sullivan then threatened to “skull drag” her into his room before dragging her by the hair to the room and locking her in.

He then threw items at her before having “forcible sex” with her.

“I’m going to f--k you now and I’m going to record it too,” the court heard he said.

“We can do it the easy way or the hard way, but either way I’m going to f--k you”.

Despite the woman screaming no, Sullivan pressed one hand on her neck while holding the phone to record the violence.

Sullivan then covered her nose and mouth and said “if you keep moving I’ll f--kin kill you”.

After he forced sex upon her, the court heard he told her she “f--king deserved it”.

The recording Sullivan made of the incident includes audio of him saying “I’m gonna f--k you in the arse hey. What c--t? Don’t f--king move”.

“Even accepting that the sexual intercourse was impulsive, it cannot be said that the abuse of which it formed part was in any way shape or form impulsive, enduring as it did for the time that it did,” Judge Priestly said.

“At the time of this offence, the victim was a broken human being and the offence is a wanton act continuing that destruction.”

Two days later, the victim messaged Sullivan and told him she would keep the baby if he stopped threatening to kill her mother.

The argument culminated with messages from Sullivan saying he would kill the victim’s mother regardless – “you think I’m a mental case now wait till you see what I turn into if you kill my kid”.

On September 8, the victim became aware an “intimate” video of a consensual sexual encounter between herself and Sullivan was on Snapchat. She called police.

The court heard Sullivan had a violent childhood, routinely removed from the care of family figures or deprived of care owing to death or incarceration.

Sullivan was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child and had a “significant” substance abuse history starting with daily alcohol and marijuana abuse from age 14.

This progressed to methamphetamine from age 15 and heroin from age 16, alongside ethanol, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, quetiapine, MDMA and LSD.

Psychological reports submitted to the court detailed how trauma could “alter neurological structure, functioning and impair emotional development”, and the extent to which Sullivan “meets (this) criteria, reinforced by exposure to violence”.

Asked about the risk of future offending, Sullivan’s legal team said he demonstrated a “mixed appreciation of his circumstances” but would avoid becoming involved with the victim again.

Sullivan was convicted and sentenced to an aggregate term of 13 years in jail, with a non-parole period of eight and a half years, expiring in March 2029.