Cory Millar-Powell: Sex offender claims rare condition could lead to death in jail
Nine years after he broke through a 17-year-old girl’s stockings to assault her this rapist claims a medical condition should keep him from being thrown into prison.
Penrith
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A former paralegal and aspiring lawyer found guilty of raping a teenager almost nine years ago in Redfern claims he is unfit for jail because of a rare medical condition which makes him prone to “sudden death”.
Cory Millar-Powell, 28, who formerly worked for the Crown Solicitor’s Office as a litigation paralegal, appeared in the NSW District Court on Friday to be sentenced for one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
He was found guilty of the offence during a jury trial last October.
The former Penrith school student – who was 19 at the time of the offence – forced a 17-year-old girl onto a bed inside his brother’s Redfern home in April 2012.
Millar-Powell held the victim down and penetrated her with his finger or fingers after making a hole in her stockings, despite her asking him not to and trying to leave.
The pair had visited an art museum and gone out for lunch together in Sydney’s CBD prior to the sexual assault.
Police investigated the incident after the victim came forward years later.
Millar-Powell’s lawyer Simon Buchen submitted medical reports to the court on Friday, during the sentence hearing, which outlined his client’s medical conditions.
The court heard he suffered from a rare condition called mass phenotype disorder which can lead to serious complications if he suffered physical trauma, including an aortic rupture or mitral valve prolapse.
The court heard if that were to happen he was at risk of “sudden death”.
“He is vulnerable physically in a custodial environment which your honour knows unfortunately can be violent,” his lawyer stated.
However, Crown prosecutor Daniel Waldmann challenged that submission.
“(The evidence) simply does not rise to the point … that the offender is someone at risk of sudden death.”
Judge Jane Culver stated further information would have to be provided to the court about whether the condition could be managed in prison.
The matter has been adjourned until May for Judge Culver to hand down her judgment.
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