Ray Hadley rips into Judge Robyn Tupman over Foaud “Fred” Hasna
A judge criticised for saying a child sex offender had ‘misread the situation’ was the same judge who acquitted Luke Lazarus of sexual assault. Ray Hadley was among those to criticise the district court judge following her sentencing comments this week.
The Express
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A judge who said a child sex offender had ‘misread the situation’ and that is was ‘unfortunate’ she had to jail him was the same judge who acquitted Luke Lazarus of sexual assault outside a King Cross nightclub.
Judge Robyn Tupman on Tuesday sentenced child molester Foaud “Fred” Hasna, 50 over a toilet sex attack on a 12-year-old boy at Bass Hill Plaza in April 2017.
Her high-profile acquittal of Mr Lazarus in 2017 drew criticism at the time, after he was initially found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman before the conviction was quashed on appeal and a retrial ordered.
Mr Lazarus was acquitted at a judge-alone retrial, overseen by Ms Tupman, with the Court of Criminal Appeal upholding the decision, ruling a third trial would be unfair.
In sentencing in Hasna’s matter, Ms Tupman said it was a case of gay cruising gone wrong and said she accepted Hasna’s claims that he made a mistake in thinking the boy was over 16 years of age.
Jailing Hasna for up to four years and three months, Ms Tupman said it was “unfortunate” that he would have to serve jail time, with his time in custody expected to disrupt his rehabilitation.
The remarks have drawn criticism from children protection advocacy group Act for Kids.
“This will send a shiver up the spine of all parents to hear stories like this,” executive director Stephen Beckett said.
“It’s quite challenging to believe a 12-year-old can be mistaken as someone of legal age, however the judge has made that decision.
“There are long-term consequences to young people who are victims of sexual assault and it’s they have to live with for a long time.
“As a parent, It’s a horror story, imagine somebody luring your child away to abuse them in a toilet, that is just horrific to think about and process as a parent, let alone that poor child at the age of 12 has been through.”
Sydney radio broadcaster Ray Hadley criticised the sentence on his morning show on 2GB today.
“The story relates to a judge in NSW, that judge’s name is Robyn Tupman, and I’ve dealt with Judge Robyn Tupman before over issues and strangely enough, it’s always about the same thing, about paedophilia, and it’s happened again,” Mr Hadley said.
“I couldn’t disagree with Her Honour more than I possibly will this morning in relation to what has been reported today in The Daily Telegraph.
“I think it’s quite bizarre.”
Mr Hadley also criticised a sentence handed down by Judge Tupman in January involving a former scouts leader who sexually abuse two teenage boys on a camping trip on the northern beaches in the 1990s.
Kellyville man Jeffrey Steven Steel, 48, was jailed a maximum of six years.
However, Hadley expressed concern at Judge Tupman’s acceptance of forensic evidence that Steel was not a paedophile.
At a sentencing hearing last week, Hasna repeatedly claimed he had “misread the situation” and struggled to come to terms with the fact he had indecently assaulted a child.
“I accept he did not know the victim was as young as 12, almost 13, and under 16,” Ms Tupman said.
“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.
In spite of this, she added: “He was clearly a young man, at least 30 years younger than the offender.”
Hasna pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault on a child under 16 after he followed the boy into the toilets of Bass Hill Plaza on the night of April 22, 2017.
Inside, he grabbed the boy and forced him to touch his exposed penis and at one stage tried to force the boy’s head down towards his genitals, despite the boy’s pleas for him to stop.
Hasna could be eligible for release as early as February next year, with time previously served.