Wodonga man Dennis Cohalan to spend decade behind bars for rape

A Wodonga druggie and father of three has received his sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two women while they were “asleep and vulnerable”.

A man will spend a decade in prison after he pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault.

A Wodonga drug addict and father of three took “callous advantage” of two sleeping women when he raped and sexually assaulted them in the space of one month.

Dennis Cohalan pleaded guilty to one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault last week and was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on Thursday.

In 2018, Cohalan offered to help an acquaintance after she’d been in a fight before he began touching her shoulders, legs and feet.

She fell asleep on the couch and when she woke the 58-year-old was sexually assaulting her.

Judge Anne Hassan said the woman made it clear she was not interested and told Cohalan to “f--- off”.

Three weeks later, Cohalan visited another woman’s home to exchange ice when he made her feel uncomfortable by staring and following her around the house.

Again, the second woman fell asleep on the couch and woke to Cohalan sexually assaulting her, questioning him and telling him to “get off”.

Judge Hassan said the offending were “gross” and disgraceful” violations of the women who were sleeping and “vulnerable”.

She said in one of the victim impact statements her life had been on hold since the offending, her anxiety was worse and she now had serious trust issues.

Dennis Cohalan appeared via video link in the Melbourne County Court to be sentenced for rape and sexual assault charges.

Judge Hassan said Cohalan absconded to Queensland in 2018 before a committal mention for the matters and one of the victims suffered confusion and distress due to the lengthy delay that caused.

During the plea hearing, defence lawyer Martin Kozlowski blamed Cohalan’s daily use of methylamphetamine for his offending but told the court his client had addressed his “serious” addiction.

The court heard Cohalan had PTSD, depression, anxiety and would experience considerable anguish while in prison due to being separated from his elderly and unwell parents he was previously caring for.

His prospects for rehabilitation were assessed as fair and he had a low to moderate risk of reoffending.

Judge Hassan said Cohalan’s sentence must “unequivocally denounce” the offending and send a message that he must “never behave in this disgraceful manner again”.

Cohalan was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a non-parole period of seven years.

He has served 193 days of pre-sentence detention.