Prison worker duct-taped mum in shed, tried to rape her, Bendigo court hears

A prison worker who duct taped his ex into a family shed and tried to rape her as their kids played outside has escaped jail, a Bendigo court has heard.

A Bendigo mother sobbed and cried out “no” as her ex duct taped her into a family shed and tried to rape her as their kids played outside.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to the sexual assault on April 10 2021.

On Wednesday having already served 30 days in prison, the prison worker escaped further jail time when he was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order, including 200 hours of community work.

It followed an earlier June court hearing where he pleaded guilty to breaching bail and court orders.

The court heard their children were playing outside as their mother swept the shed when the drunk man used a roll of duct tape to jam the door closed.

He then grabbed his ex by the hips, forced her knickers down and slapped her butt.

The woman told him “no” and tried to pull on her clothes but he followed her, grabbed her breast and tried to take her bra off.

Police said as she pleaded for him to stop he grabbed her other breast and again tried to pull her pants off twice.

The court heard the mother wept as she struggled to open the taped shut door.

The woman later told police she tried to hide her tears from her children by wearing sunglasses before going back to her home with her two older children.

But her ex-partner followed her, likely still intoxicated, with two young children in the back seat.

After dropping off the kids she asked him to leave, but instead he rough-housed and played with their children as she tried to get them to bed.

The woman used his car keys to lure him out of her home, and he followed her while yelling abuse.

He repeatedly raised his fist at her, and pushed her against the wall before throwing a garden gnome at her feet.

“I’m going to lay into you c —t,” he told her.

Before police arrived he tried to break into the woman’s bedroom via the window after she and the children went inside.

The woman was left shaken and covered in bruises and marks.

He was arrested before being granted bail, with the condition he could not contact his ex or approach her home.

But after just a week he started texting her.

“If you never wanted to talk to me you should have just told me,” one text said.

“I’m sorry I tried to rape you and duct tape you in my shed.

“I don’t give a f — k about you and I haven’t for ages.

“You can carry on like a houso f — k wit.

“Don’t forget to sent (sic) all these messages to the police.”

In an earlier hearing the woman said the incident had left her with “holes in my heart and bundles of confusion in my head”.

“It made me feel helpless … kicking me when I was down,” she said.

She told the court she was scared every time she heard a similar male voice or saw people that looked like her ex.

“I constantly found myself flinching at the sight of cars,” she said.

The sexual assault victim said she had not allowed herself to process what happened, as “my job as a mother is to protect my children … (later) it will be my turn to grieve”.

In a victim impact statement one son said he was “always sad now” while his brother said he knew his mum “would always protect me – even in my dreams”.

The younger son said he suffered from nightmares of his father hurting his family and he often heard his mother crying herself to sleep at night.

“When dad is around mum goes quiet and sad … if some of her fun and silliness slips out he makes her feel bad,” he said.

“I can see it in her eyes.”

The father said it was “heartbreaking and horrible” to hear his sons’ victim impact statements.

His lawyer Luke Docherty said the man had lost his job – ironically working in the prisons – as a result of his jail term.

Mr Docherty said the man was initially willing to fight the sexual assault and false imprisonment charges, however that would force his children and ex-partner to face the potentially traumatising two-day court hearing.

On Wednesday August 4 he pleaded guilty to the charges.

Magistrate Russell Kelly said his plea carried great weight as it avoided an “ugly, awful” hearing.