Queensland Childrens Court: Teen rapist and sexual predator escapes term in adult prison

A teen who raped and sexually assaulted multiple girls from his school bragged that he had slept with more than 150 people and his friend kept a record.

A teen has been sentenced over his offending. Picture: File

A teen who raped and sexually assaulted multiple girls from his school bragged that he had slept with more than 150 people and his friend kept a record.

The boy, who was aged 15-16 when the offences occurred across 2022 and 2023, is now 18.

He was sentenced under the youth justice act and he cannot be named for legal reasons.

The teenager pleaded guilty to five counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault along with charges of indecent treatment of a person under 16 and the creation, distribution and possession of child exploitation material.

Crown prosecutor Christian Peters told the court the offending involved four female victims aged from 15 to 17.

First offending occurred when the boy showed one girl from his school images of another naked girl attracting an indecent treatment charge.

The two then had consensual sex at a party where the boy took images and videos.

He later shared these images with another girl, Mr Peters said.

“He later reported he felt justified as he said it was in response to her sharing an image of him.”

Judge Tracy Fantin noted “many teenagers who engage in sexting don’t realise it is a criminal offence”.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Newswire Photos September 10, 2024: Snapchat , Instagram, YouTube, Roblox and tik tok and X (Twitter). The Albanese government says it will introduce legislation to enforce age restrictions on social media before the next federal election, but is still mulling over what that age it should be restricted to. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

The second victim, another 15-year-old girl, was also exposed to pornographic material of him having sex with other girls while they were in class.

The pair later engaged in intercourse three times with the boy secretly removing a condom or pretending he applied one despite explicit instructions from the girl that she would not have sex without one each time.

This attracted three counts of rape.

The offence occurred before the separate offence of “stealthing”, which is the non-consensual condom removal or tampering with a condom.

Mr Peters said the girl later heard the boy bragging to friends that he had not worn a condom each time they had intercourse.

The boy later conducted the same act against another girl, a 16-year-old.

“It was a total violation of their person, it breached their trust and exposed them to sexually transmitted infection and pregnancy at a very young age” Mr Peters said.

In a separate incident with the same girl the boy sexuallly assaulted her, performing oral sex despite her protests and digitally raping her.

The final incident occurred again at a party where the boy sexually assaulted another girl who told him “at least 10 times” to stop.

The Cairns Court House building on Sheridan Street. Picture: Brendan Radke

The boy was later confronted by a number of girls accusing him of sharing images of them to other people.

A search of his phone by police uncovered graphic images of himself engaging in sexual acts with girls between the ages of 13 and 15 which amounted to possession and distribution of child exploitation material.

The search also uncovered one image and one video depicting the rape of a toddler.

The boy claimed the image which he shared in a group was sent to a discord chat group he was a part of.

The court heard he saved and shared the image to his friends over instagram with the caption “this is fu**ed up” and said he had no sexual interest in children.

A pre-sentence report into the boys offending by a child sex offending expert found he “minimised the harm” of his offending and attempted to rationalise his behaviour continuing to deny some facts of the offending.

The report revealed the boy had engaged in sexual activity from the age of 11 and the boy told the writer he had had sex with more than 150 people while in school with a friend “keeping a record” of his sexual encounters.

The report writer also noted he had been exposed to pornography from the age of 10 contributing to the boy’s “hyper-sexuality”.

The report said the boy was a moderate to high risk of reoffending.

Judge Fantin said his exposure to porn from a young age would have been counterproductive to his development and his relationship with sex and future sexual partners.

She said the boy showed “no remorse of empathy, and was focused on the possible punishment for him”.

“This profound egotistical behaviour is not uncommon for a person of your age.

“He is a long way from having genuine remorse.”

She said, despite the boy having spent no time in custody, a sentence must facilitate the boy’s rehabilitation.

This was reinforced by submissions from the prosecution and defence which favoured a sentence without actual custody.

She decided this would be best served in the community under strict supervision coupled with a targeted program delivered by a specialist service for child sexual offenders.

“A sentence allowing you to remain in the community with counselling from experts is favourable.”

Judge Fantin sentenced the teenager to two years detention for the charges of rape and sexual assault, immediately suspended under a conditional release order.

He was further sentenced on the outstanding charges to two years probation.

He was given the further condition that he must submit to treatment through targeted sexual offender programs which if not complied with could attract resentence as an adult.

Originally published as Queensland Childrens Court: Teen rapist and sexual predator escapes term in adult prison