Army sergeant Connor Sullivan sentenced for groping female ADF officer

A defence force officer says she has found ways to deal with ‘locker room talk’ but her ‘skin still crawls’ when she recounts an army sergeant groping her while they were on shift alone.

Connor Sullivan has been sentenced to military detention for groping a female officer while on duty. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

A defence force officer says her “skin still crawls” when she recounts the moment a married sergeant groped her bottom in what has been described as a “calculated, brazen indecent act”.

The woman, who says she has found ways to deal with “locker room talk” throughout her career, told a panel of her peers she felt “isolated, ostracised and objectified” after the incident.

Connor Sullivan, 27, was this week found guilty of an act of indecency without consent after facing a Court Martial Panel at the Defence Force Magistrates Court in Canberra.

He has been sentenced to 14 days in military detention, with seven days suspended, and has had his rank reduced from Sergeant to Private.

Connor Sullivan has been sentenced to military detention for groping a woman while on shift. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

During a powerful victim impact statement, the woman said Sullivan’s actions were a violation of her “human workplace rights”.

“It made me feel uneasy in my own skin,” she said

“I felt isolated, ostracised and objectified.”

The woman said she grew up with brothers and worked in other male-dominated industries before joining the ADF and had previously felt accepted by men.

But she said being “grabbed without my consent” had changed her.

She said hearing Sullivan say he and other men talked about her body behind her back made her feel uncomfortable about spending time with others she was training with.

However she said she tried not to “harbour bias against men” despite her experience.

The victim told the Defence Force Magistrates Court her “skin still crawls” when she discusses the incident. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“I don’t consider all men to be capable of doing the wrong thing,” she said.

“I’m grateful for the swift action taken (against Sullivan) and the support from army men.”

The woman said she felt “embarrassed” for freezing after the groping.

“My shock made me merely walk away,” she said.

“My skin still crawls when I discuss the event.”

As she ended her statement, she faced the panel and said “thank you for believing in me”.

During sentencing submissions, prosecutors described Sullivan’s actions as a “calculated, brazen indecent act” and said he had expressed “no remorse or contrition”.

“‘Sorry I misread the room’ is not a sincere apology,” the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said Sullivan had been in the army for eight years.

The court also heard Sullivan was convicted for a minor firearm offence in 2014 where he was fined $323.

Sullivan’s lawyer told the court his client was born in Maryborough in Queensland and moved to Bendigo in Victoria when at age 11.

He said Sullivan, his wife, and infant daughter lived in Defence Housing Australia supported accommodation at Point Cook in Melbourne, with the young family expecting another child in mid-2023.

As a sergeant Sullivan had an annual salary of more than $90,000 and the court heard, if he were dismissed from the defence force, his family would need to leave their DHA home within 28 days.

The defence lawyer said Sullivan “always wanted to be in the army” and pleaded for the panel to give him a sentence where he would remain in the defence force.

Prior to sending the panel off to deliberate, Major General Michael Cowan KC gave the panel a warning.

“You are not to punish Sullivan for being a philanderer,” he said

“This is not a court of morals.”

The panel delivered its sentence on Friday morning after deliberating overnight.

Sullivan will serve his detention sentence at Holsworthy barracks in southwest Sydney.