Fouad Hasna: Bass Hill toilet sex assault accused jailed
A man who claimed a 12-year-old boy had given him a “sexual look” before he dragged him into a toilet cubicle and sexually assaulted him had “misread the situation” and is not a risk to the community, a judge has said
The Express
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A man who claimed a 12-year-old boy had given him a “sexual look” before he dragged him into a toilet cubicle and sexually assaulted him had “misread the situation” and is not a risk to the community, a judge has said.
Fouad ‘Fred’ Hasna, 50, exposed himself to the boy at a well-known gay cruising spot before groping his genitals, slapping him and forcing the boy’s hand on his penis.
He was jailed for two years and three months by Judge Robyn Tupman – a sentence she described as “unfortunate” and an “undesirable outcome for everyone.”
She said she agreed with Hasna’s claim that he had “misread the situation”, including the intentions and age of the boy.
“He believed the victim gave him a sexual look, which he read as the victim being interested in having sexual contact with him,” she said.
“I do not accept the victim did any such thing but I do accept the offender thought this was the case.”
She added: “I accept he did not know the victim was as young as 12 almost 13 and under 16.
“The victim was shown in CCTV footage to be a relatively tall young man who at least on CCTV footage did look older than 12, almost 13.
“He was clearly a young man, at least 30 years younger than the offender.”
Despite Hasna’s claimed initial misunderstanding, Ms Tupman said his mistake became obvious once he was inside the toilets.
She added: “His homosexual tendencies amount to self-loathing on his part.
“He was cruising and he could not control himself that night.
“He is not a paedophile. He did not target the victim because he was 12, and he did not believe the child was under 16.
“He does not present, in my view, a risk to the community as a paedophile or as a sex offender.
“It is unfortunate he will have to return to prison. It is an undesirable outcome for everyone.”
The incident unfolded at Bass Hill Plaza – a known cruising hotspot – in April 2017.
The court heard Hasna was on his way to visit a friend when he stopped by the shopping centre and went to the toilet several times, due to what he claimed was “severe diarrhoea”.
However, Ms Tupman found Hasna had been “cruising” at the well-known gay beat and was actively seeking out sexual contact with men in the toilets at the time
Hasna’s claims at last week’s sentence hearing that the young boy had given him a “sexual” or “mysterious look” when he passed him outside the toilets drew criticism from Ms Tupman, who labelled the claims as “victim blaming”.
The court heard, Hasna went into the toilets about a minute after the boy and stood inside a cubicle directly opposite the boy’s, pulling his pants down and masturbating in the stall.
When the boy opened his cubicle door, Hasna exposed himself to the boy, grabbing him by his wrist and pulling him back inside the cubicle as he tried to leave and wash his hands.
Hasna claimed he thought the boy had been “role playing” or playing hard to get when he told him to stop and tried to pull away.
It was at this point that Hasna groped the victim’s genitals and unzipped his pants, before he forced the boy’s head towards his penis.
“Go on your knees for me, I know you want my penis,” he told the boy.
Hasna then “playfully slapped” the boy when he resisted and forced the boy’s hand on his genitals.
The ordeal came to an end when three men entered the toilets and the boy fled to a fast food restaurant where he was working that night.
Ms Tupman said he had been a good husband and father of two teenage boys, but had been forced to suppress his bisexual or homosexual urges due to his commitment to his family and religious taboos.
The court heard Hasna, who pleaded guilty to counts of indecently assaulting a child under 16, had no criminal history and had worked in the restaurant and fast food business for most of his career until a serious workplace accident led to him developing a major depressive disorder in 2011.
He was sentenced to four years and three months in jail, with a non-parole period of two years and three months.
Given time already served he could walk free from February next year.