Aidan Kelly found guilty of rape and jailed on remand to await sentencing

A 21-year-old rapist has been put behind bars on remand to await sentencing after he was assessed as likely to commit sexual offences again.

A rapist has been jailed on remand to await sentencing after he was assessed as likely to commit further sexual offences in the community.

Aidan Creed Kelly, 21, appeared in Goulburn District Court on Friday after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.

In June, a trial by jury determined Kelly was guilty of having sex with a woman without her consent and knowing that she didn’t consent in Crookwell on November 23, 2019.

The Crookwell resident was due to be sentenced on Friday but the case was adjourned due to a last-minute change of legal representation.

Aidan Creed Kelly appeared in Goulburn District Court on August 6. Picture: Craig Dunlop

The court heard Kelly had contacted lawyer Christine Hall on Thursday evening to appear in his matter on Friday morning, but had neglected to tell his previous lawyer.

Both lawyers appeared in court before the recently-appointed Ms Hall applied for an adjournment so she could familiarise herself with the details of the case.

“The circumstances are extremely unfortunate and very unusual,” she told the court.

The prosecution agreed it would be “unfair” to sentence Kelly but asked for his bail to be revoked after a sentencing assessment report judged his likelihood of reoffending was “above average”.

Judge Julia Baly granted the adjournment “somewhat reluctantly” and labelled the proceedings “rather unsatisfactory”.

She disagreed with the prosecution’s argument Kelly might fail to appear in court if his bail continued, but the court heard she had concerns about the risk of Kelly reoffending with similar offences.

“He is a person who is above-average risk of reoffending. That is not going to change because of his attitude,” the judge said.

“He denies the offence happened and will continue to deny the offence.”

The court heard it was important Aidan Creed Kelly’s case remained in Goulburn District Court.

Judge Baly told the court Kelly should be detained because of the risk he posed to the community.

“It is an unacceptable risk that cannot be ameliorated by any further bail conditions,” she said.

She ordered Kelly be taken into custody immediately and told him he would be facing further time in prison after being sentenced.

“There is no viable alternative other than full-time custody,” she said.

Kelly will appear in Goulburn District Court on August 13 to set another sentencing date. Despite discussions about moving the matter to another court, Judge Baly told the court the matter was connected to the region.

“There are people in the local community who have a right to know what’s happening with this matter,” she said.