Maximus Devereux waved gun after sex assault on woman he met at Mildura nightclub

A woman fled in terror after a grubby painter forced himself on her and waved a gun around during a wild night that began at a Mildura nightclub.

Maximus Devereux leaving court in Mildura after pleading guilty to sexual assault, drug possession and weapons charges.

A Mildura painter forced himself on a woman after a boozy night out before waving an unloaded gun around before the victim fled in terror, a court has heard.

Maximus Devereux, 22, fronted County Court in Mildura to plead guilty to multiple charges, including sexual assault, common law assault, and drug possession.

The court heard he had served 92 days pre-sentence detention before being bailed on these charges.

In late 2023, the victim bumped into Devereux at Rumours nightclub after spending some time with friends at The Setts, just a short distance away.

The victim was picked up by a friend and taken to Devereux’s house, along with Devereux himself, by a friend at about 2.30am on the same night.

When at Devereux’s house, the duo sat on his bed and spoke for a while before Devereux asked her on multiple occasions to have sex with him.

Devereux and his entourage were upset with the media presence outside of court following his guilty plea on sexual assault and drugs charges.

After being repeatedly knocked back, the court heard Devereux pushed the victim back, so they were both lying down facing each other and put his hands up her skirt and started touching her vagina through her underwear.

The victim pushed Devereux’s hand away and told him “no.” After that Devereux produced a gun which he waved around and pointed at his own head.

When the victim started to panic about the firearm, Devereux told her to “relax, it is not even loaded.” The victim, fearful, called a friend and got a ride home.

Police searched Devereux’s bedroom less than two weeks after the incident and found a rifle, a knife, two bags of cocaine and various prescription medications including the weight loss drug Duromine and Spedra, commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction.

The court heard that while Devereux took responsibility for the drugs in his bedroom, he said he had no idea how they got there.

Devereux will learn his fate when he is sentenced on Tuesday at the County Court circuit sitting in Mildura.

It was revealed the gun Devereux had was a family heirloom, handed down to him by his now deceased uncle.

Representatives from Devereux’s legal team intimated that his offending was at the lower end of the spectrum as far as sexual assault goes.

Prosecutor David O’Doherty refused to characterise the seriousness of the offending, except to say any sexual assault is a serious charge.

“It is clear this victim has reacted in a fairly significant way … (the offending has) shattered her sense of security around males,” Mr O’Doherty said.

Devereux was assessed as suitable for a community corrections order and will be sentenced next Tuesday.