Jack Pethybridge sentenced to jail for Barden Ridge party sex assault
A young man has been sentenced to jail after a party at his home ended with him sexually assaulting a male guest in his bed. A court heard the lives of several young people are now in tatters as a result of the shocking incident.
St George Shire Standard
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A young man who sexually assaulted a male party guest in his own bed as a woman slept between them has been sentenced to more than a year behind bars.
A District Court jury found Jack Pethybridge, 21, guilty of indecent assault and sexual intercourse without consent after he masturbated his male victim and briefly put his mouth on the victim’s penis after a party at Pethybridge’s Barden Ridge home.
Pethybridge, his boyfriend, a female friend and the victim had been drinking at Pethybridge’s home in mid-2017 when the group wound up in bed together where the assault occurred.
At Parramatta District Court on Friday, Judge Jennie Girdham sentenced the man to a maximum of two years and nine months behind bars.
“The only appropriate sentence is one of imprisonment,” Judge Girdham said.
“The short duration of the assault does not limit the harm done to the victim.”
Pethybridge would have been eligible for parole in October 2021 after one year and five months behind bars, but he was granted bail to appeal his sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal beginning on May 14.
He will be required to reside with his family in Barden Ridge and he is not to apply for a passport while he remains on bail.
The court heard Pethybridge’s partner had left the bed before Pethybridge reached over the woman sleeping beside him and began touching the victim.
“He rolled over and saw the offender propped up on his left arm, looking straight at him,” Judge Girdham said.
“He said ‘Jack, no, stop, Jack please, no, think about (your boyfriend).”
Pethybridge then climbed over the female, removed the victim’s underwear and put his mouth on his penis.
“The victim tried to push him away and said that Pethybridge made a whining sound and put his mouth around the victim’s penis,” Judge Girdham said.
“About five seconds later he managed to move Pethybridge’s head off.”
Pethybridge and his male victim had both been in romantic relationships with other men for some time on the night in question.
Pethybridge has continually maintained his belief the assault was a consensual encounter that amounted only to mutual infidelity, and had continued until the victim climaxed.
This claim was rejected by the court.
“The offender believed that the victim had been flirtatious,” Judge Girdham said.
The court had previously heard of the personal devastation wrought on both the victim and Pethybridge since that fateful night in 2017.
“The victim was in love, and the events of those nights have changed his life,” Judge Girdham said.
“His social life has been destroyed, and he feels that loss deeply - he finds it hard to trust people and he has reported feeling lonely and hopeless.”
Judge Girdham said the victim’s university grades and attendance had slipped since the assault and he had failed a subject for the first time after the ordeal.
Pethybridge has deferred his university studies altogether and has been suspended from his leadership position with Scouts NSW.
“Subsequent to being charged there has been a deterioration in his mental state,” Judge Girdham said.
“The charges have impacted him and his family, who are no longer able to foster children and he feels he has ruined everything.”
Pethybridge was briefly taken downstairs into custody so his release could be processed.