Sergeant Connor Sullivan guilty of groping female ADF officer

A court martial panel has returned its verdict after hearing evidence an army sergeant indecently groped a female officer. Find out what happened.

Army sergeant Connor Sullivan has been found guilty of groping a female ADF officer on night-watch duty. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

An army sergeant has been found guilty of indecently groping a female colleague on the buttocks while they were on night shift.

Sergeant Connor Sullivan, 27, grabbed and squeezed the buttock of the woman after he told her to turn around earlier this year.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, testified she had learned to navigate “locker room talk” in the Australian Defence Force but she presumed Sullivan asked her to turn around because there was an insect on her pants, saying she was shocked when he groped her.

Sgt Sullivan faced a three-day restricted court martial trial at the Defence Force Magistrates Court in Canberra after pleading not guilty to an act of indecency without consent and assaulting an officer.

He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of prejudicial conduct.

Army sergeant Connor Sullivan was found guilty after facing trial at the Defence Force Military Court in Canberra. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

During the trial, the woman said Sullivan boasted about cheating on his wife who was home with their nine-month-old baby.

She said while on duty he would sometimes talk about his infant daughter and there were other times he would raise inappropriate and sexually-charged topics of discussion.

“He said ‘it does not matter how much I play up on my wife — I’m the best d--k she’s ever had’,” the woman said.

She said Sgt Sullivan spoke once about “f--king” his wife throughout her pregnancy.

A three-day restricted court martial trial has concluded at the Defence Force Military Court in Canberra. Picture: Alix Sweeney

The woman also spoke of the stigma around speaking out against “locker room talk”, saying she often laughed off inappropriate and sexist comments from Sullivan and other defence members for fear she would be ostracised.

“I didn’t want to be ‘that’ girl,” she said.

Sullivan’s lawyer argued throughout the trial his client thought the touching was consensual, stating the woman had not openly objected to the Sergeant’s flirtatious conversation.

In a recorded interview with Sullivan played to the court on Wednesday, he told service police the woman was walking away from him to wake up another soldier to take over the shift.

As she walked away, he recalled saying words to the effect of “I want to see if your a-se is as tight as it looks” and said he was “pretty sure” she walked back to willingly turn around.

In closing arguments, prosecutors said even if Sullivan’s version of events was correct, the groping still would not be consensual.

“(Sullivan’s story) is just a smokescreen and facade to mask his unlawful behaviour,” the prosecutor said.

On Thursday, the three-member court martial panel – which holds a similar role to a jury — told Defence Force Magistrate Major General Michael Cowan it found Sullivan guilty of an act of indecency without consent.

Sullivan also faced back-up charges of assaulting a superior officer and prejudicial conduct — which were thrown out after he was found guilty of the indecency charge.

Unlike civilian jury trials that only provide a verdict, court martial panels are also responsible for sentencing people they find guilty.

The panel is expected to sentence Sullivan on Thursday afternoon.