Wyong: Brody Hancock pleads guilty to sexually assaulting, touching woman at club
A young man “preyed on an intoxicated victim” when he groped a woman on the buttocks before lifting her skirt and sexually assaulting her at a club, a court has heard.
Central Coast
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A man will be sentenced after pleading guilty to sexually touching a woman he kissed at a club before sexually assaulting her.
Brody Hancock, 19, of Woongarrah, faced Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual touching and one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
An agreed set of facts states the then 18-year-old was at Wyong Leagues Club on November 7 last year when he saw a woman he had known previously but the pair were not friends.
The woman, then aged 19, had celebrated a family member’s birthday earlier in the evening and was a bit “tipsy”.
The court heard about 1.20am the victim was in the poker machine area when Hancock approached her and they spoke.
“After a further short conversation with the victim the offender stood up to leave and the victim took him by the arm and pulled him close to her,” the facts state.
“The two then kissed which lasted approximately 40 seconds until the victim pulled away from the kiss.”
The court heard it was disputed between the parties who initiated the kiss but the woman sat down and started playing a poker machine and he sat down next to her.
He asked if she was sure she didn’t want to come back to his place but she said she was sleeping at her grandparents.
The facts state Hancock tried to kiss the woman again, forcing his tongue inside her mouth and grabbed her bottom seven or eight times while she tried to rebuff his advances.
The court heard Hancock then lifted her skirt and sexually assaulted her.
Once Hancock entered pleas of guilty to the three offences the Crown prosecutor applied for a detention order to have his bail revoked.
A fourth charge meanwhile was withdrawn and dismissed.
The prosecutor said Hancock “preyed on an intoxicated victim in a public place” and said an intensive corrections order — considered by the court to be the equivalent of jail but served in the community — was not available to him because his offending was of a certain prescribed sexual nature.
Magistrate Kirralee Perry said the main offence was “a serious example of sexual intercourse without consent” and occurred in public.
“It’s highly likely that the offender will be sentenced to a term of full time imprisonment,” she said.
However the magistrate said Hancock had no prior criminal record and there was no subjective material before the court to indicate anything about his character, upbringing or prospects of rehabilitation.
She said the prosecution also conceded there were no concerns of Hancock posing an unacceptable risk to the community if he remained on bail.
Magistrate Perry refused the detention application and continued Hancock’s bail.
He was ordered to appear at Gosford District Court on September 29 to set a sentencing date.
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