Ex-soldier jailed for rape after tricking sex worker with fake bank payment
A former soldier has been jailed for rape after tricking a sex worker with a fake $700 payment receipt in the first case of its kind under NSW's tightened consent laws.
An ex-soldier who thought he got a freebie by pretending to pay his sex worker has been jailed for rape in a landmark legal case.
In what is believed to have been the first use of NSW’s tightened consent laws, the man was jailed for 16 months for duping the woman into having sex with him by showing her a fake $700 bank transfer receipt.
The 38-year-old was jailed in the District Court last month under laws major changes to sexual assault laws that were introduced in 2022.
The case hinged on new laws that say consent is withdrawn if a person is tricked into having sex because of a “fraudulent inducement”.
He pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual intercourse without consent for the offence that previously could have been treated as fraud.
During the hearing, the prosecuting and defence lawyers both told Judge Jonathon Priestley SC they could not find a precedent case where someone had been sentenced under the amended laws in NSW.
The man, a former soldier who can legally only be known as Dixon, met the sex worker on July 8, 2023, the court heard.
On that date, he contacted the woman and paid her in advance before they met at her home for sex.
It was a similar arrangement for their second commercial dalliance on July 18, 2023, the court heard.
For their third meeting on August 9, 2023, Dixon paid her a $100 deposit.
He then showed her a fake receipt for $700 purporting to be a bank transfer that he made to her for the balance of the payment.
Believing the money had been paid, the woman had sex with him.
After Dixon left her home, the woman realised the money had not been transferred and chased him up via text message.
She sent Dixon two more text messages the next day, but he ignored both.
When Dixon failed to respond to a third message on August 11, she started calling him on her phone and from other numbers.
He answered one of the calls but then hung up when he realised it was the sex worker.
She reported the matter to police who put out a warrant for Dixon.
He was arrested on a separate matter more than a year later.
While in custody, police charged him with sexual intercourse without consent for failing to pay the sex worker.
In court, Judge Priestley said it was important to adjust community attitudes following the introduction of the new laws.
“There is a need for general deterrence,” Judge Priestley told the court.
“As it may well be that the general public, and perhaps more particularly, likely clientele of sex workers, suffer from a misunderstanding that to simply not pay the agreed fee is wrong not only in the commercial sense but also is a serious criminal offence,” he said.
The sex worker told the court she suffered “significant and ongoing psychological harm” as a result of Dixon’s actions.
She attended “more than 50 hours of counselling” to address feelings of “anxiety, stress, (and) fear of future violations of consent”, the court heard.
Dixon was jailed for a maximum 16 months but was released on parole because he had already served his minimum 144 day sentence while the case was unfolding.
Originally published as Ex-soldier jailed for rape after tricking sex worker with fake bank payment
