Koonwarra CFA bushfire hero Hugh Debenham sentenced after pleading guilty to sexual assault

A former Koonwarra CFA volunteer awarded for fighting the 2019 NSW fires has admitted sexually assaulting a woman.

Hugh Debenham pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

A Koonwarra CFA bushfire hero exposed as a cowardly sex abuser has avoided a jail term.

Hugh Debenham, 26, was sentenced in the County Court on Monday to a 12-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to sexual assault.

Debenham was 23 years old when he assaulted a woman at a hotel in August 2018 after she told him she did not want to have sex.

Debenham had invited the woman to stay with him at the hotel the day before.

The court heard the pair were friends and had previously had sexual contact.

They went to a St Kilda bar hours before the assault, where they chatted and drank for a while, before going to the hotel.

The woman had forgotten to pack pyjamas so Debenham gave her a T-shirt.

They lay in bed and chatted before Debenham pulled her towards him, but she took his arm off her and rolled away.

Debenham put his arm around her again and turned her back towards him, kissing her.

She pushed him away, saying she didn’t want to have sex because she was seeing someone else.

Five minutes later he tried to kiss her again and she again said no and pushed him away.

Debenham responded, “Sorry, I’m just really horny and frustrated”.

The woman rolled back onto her side and went to sleep.

She then woke up to Debenham’s hand stroking between her legs and moved her legs closer together and went back to sleep.

When the woman woke again she was on her back and Debenham was touching her underneath her underwear.

She rolled onto her side and waited for him to go to sleep, then went and sat in the bathroom.

When her alarm went off, she quickly got changed for work and said she was leaving.

He suggested they share a taxi to their workplaces, which they did.

That afternoon he texted her he was sorry for ‘coming onto’ her, saying, “I’m just going through some things … I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk to me”.

She reported the incident three days later.

She then had a recorded call with him, asking if he understood he had assaulted her.

Debenham was apologetic and remorseful, saying, “I thought I could change your mind, I thought you were awake at the time”.

“I can only tell you how much I am sorry about what I did,” he said.

“What I did was f*cking horrible and despicable and wrong.”

Debenham was arrested at his family’s Wonthaggi home in January 2019.

The woman told police she felt horrible after the assault but refused to give a victim impact statement to the court.

Debenham had no criminal history.

His lawyer said the assault was a young man’s “error of judgment” as he found his way in the world.

It was heard the Wonthaggi-raised man completed his schooling at Melbourne Grammar School, where he was “teased a lot” for being quiet.

It was heard he began binge drinking while studying at Deakin University in Burwood before he moved back to Gippsland, where he did a building and construction TAFE course.

The lawyer said Debenham went on to volunteer for the Koonwarra CFA and fought the devastating NSW fires in 2019, for which he received an accolade from the NSW Premier.

It was submitted that Debenham had also done considerable community work in Gippsland, fundraising for the local scouts and other community groups and events.

The court was also told Debenham helped raise money for the Richmond Football Club and Berry Street charity.

Debenham was also an “active participant” in the Rovers.

Debenham now lives with in Newcastle working for Roads NSW.

Judge Jeanette Morrish also ordered Debenham undertake treatment and counselling and pay $3000 to a charity.

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