Jerome Tennison sexually assaulted drunken friend after night out in Richmond
A man was asked to make sure his drunk friend got home safety in a taxi after a big night out at a Richmond hotel. Instead, he was the last person her safety should have been entrusted to.
Outer East
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A man assaulted his drunk friend after he was asked to take her home safely.
Jerome Tennison, now 23, pleaded guilty to the predatory attack which took place in the back of a taxi following a big night out at a Richmond hotel in June 2017.
The County Court heard a drunk Tennison, and two drunk friends had gotten into the taxi before one of the friends realised he’d left his phone in the pub.
Tennison’s mate went back to get it, but asked Tennison to make sure the other friend, who was barely conscious, got home safely.
But after the taxi took off Tennison started groping the defenceless woman, shoving his hand into her pants, rubbing her groin and reaching down her top.
He also directed the taxi driver to take him to his own home instead of hers, where the driver dropped the pair off and Tennison went inside but left the girl stranded outside.
Judge Gregory Lyon said the girl was only able to get home after a kind neighbour gave her a lift, and the distraught teen reported the assault.
The court heard the girl had since attempted suicide on several occasions and felt her worth as a person had “plummeted” since the attack.
In sentencing Tennison, Judge Lyon said his predatory and callous behaviour, which included contacting his victim the morning after the attack, not to say sorry but to ask for his jacket back, needed to be denounced.
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“You took advantage of this young woman in disgraceful circumstances. Your friend entrusted you to get her home. It was apparent to you that she was severely intoxicated, and as such, she required your protection, not your exploitation,” he said.
“Such predatory behaviour … must be met by principles of deterrence, denunciation and just punishment.”
Tennison was placed on an 18-month community corrections order, with 23 days’ presentence detention recognised as time served.