Magistrate suggests woman who claims she was raped suffered ‘buyer’s remorse’
Victoria’s chief victim advocate has slammed a magistrate’s “victim-bashing” suggestions a woman made a rape claim because she suffered “buyer’s remorse”.
Law & Order
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Victoria’s chief victim advocate has slammed a magistrate’s “victim-bashing” suggestions a woman made a rape claim because she suffered “buyer’s remorse”.
Victims of Crime Commissioner Greg Davies said the treatment of alleged victim Penny, revealed in the Herald Sun, was extraordinary and had the power to further devastate a vulnerable person.
Controversial magistrate Richard Pithouse said the woman had “put herself in that position” after she alleged she was raped at a stranger’s home following a night of drinking in Melbourne’s CBD.
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Mr Davies said: “It’s not just victim-blaming — it’s victim bashing”.
“This will absolutely compound whatever issues have confronted this victim as a result of this crime,” he said.
“It could be devastating — all for a lack of courtesy or respect.”
He said every magistrate was expected to discharge their duties with respect and courtesy, particularly when sitting in the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal.
“I was always taught that good manners cost nothing — but apparently my parents were wrong,” Mr Davies said.
“People have been victims of serious and degrading crimes … they go before our courts expecting to get a fair and reasonable — and at a victims of crime tribunal, sympathetic — hearing.”
Penny — who is legally blind — claims she was taken advantage of by the man, who she said she met outside a Crown casino bar in the early hours of March 11 last year.
But Mr Pithouse said in a hearing: “There’s an old adage … that you can’t profit from your own malfeasance.”
Her lawyer argued back: “At 9.30 the next morning, she rang the sexual assault crisis line. Now if this was a woman that got so drunk, that woke up and thought, ‘I shouldn’t have done that’ …”
To that, Mr Pithouse answered: “Buyer’s remorse.”
The exchange happened during the initial phase of a hearing to determine if the woman will receive financial assistance as a result of her claim to be a victim of crime. Penny has complained to the Judicial Commission about the “victim-blaming” magistrate’s comments, made on October 24.
“He pretty much said I provoked what happened,” she said.
A Magistrates’ Court spokeswoman said on Tuesday night: “The Chief Magistrate is looking into the issues raised by the Herald Sun late Tuesday.”
Do you have a story to tell about your experiences as a victim of sexual assault? Email crime reporter Andrea Hamblin at andrea.hamblin@news.com.au
The court spokeswoman added: “Complaints to the Judicial Commission are investigated independently of the courts. The Magistrates’ Court has not been notified about a complaint in relation to this matter.”
Mr Pithouse has previously courted controversy, including last year suggesting a domestic violence victim wanted to be bashed.
Another time, he ordered a perpetrator of violence to pay a $250 fine to the RSPCA instead of a conviction.
The victim in that case complained, saying “ as I am not a dog, a fine to the RSPCA is utterly insulting”.
Penny, not her real name, said: “In this day and age, women should be encouraged to come forward. He could have just said, ‘There is not enough evidence, it doesn’t tick all the boxes under the balance of probability’, but he said all of this unnecessary stuff.”
Carolyn Worth, spokeswoman for the Centre Against Sexual Assault, said it was expected that magistrates would be sensitive to a person who felt they had been violated.
“There is no need to be destructive,” Ms Worth added.
Penny said she woke in the man’s Yarraville home with memories of him assaulting her as she drifted off into a drunken sleep.
After calling a crisis line and doctor that morning, Penny stayed in her clothes, went to hospital for a forensic examination and reported the incident to police.
Under Victorian law, a sexual partner must seek informed consent. A drunk person cannot consent, nor can being drunk be used as an excuse by the perpetrator.
Penny said: “I was initially reluctant to make a formal report … I’d been out drinking alone and left with a man. I knew society’s tendency to victim-blame.”
The case did not proceed to a criminal trial, but Penny was encouraged to take her case to the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal. It hears applications for financial aid.
The Magistrates’ Court website states the tribunal is “intended to be a sympathetic and compassionate forum”.
Penny said she had needed psychological help and decided to pursue the matter at VOCAT to get some legal recognition of her distress.
“I felt broken,” she said. “I’ve had suicidal thoughts and intrusive thoughts of self-injury.”
A city worker, she is profoundly vision-impaired.
She said had been enjoying cocktails at sunset near St Kilda beach on a hot autumn night. Later she was refused service at a bar then went to Crown casino, where she became sleepy and recalls the stranger approaching her.
Her lawyer told the magistrate Penny was so intoxicated she could not have consented.
Mr Pithouse referred to Section 54 of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996, which states the tribunal must regard the behaviour of the applicant and whether they provoked the alleged act.
He added: “Intoxication is not an excuse for the purposes of the tribunal”.
The woman’s lawyer said she had never before heard such “insensitive” comments from a magistrate.
In a statement in response to this Herald Sun report, Rebekah Hart of YourLawyer in Ringwood said Mr Pithouse’s comments contradicted the purpose of VOCAT.
“The Magistrate’s comments were incredibly inappropriate,” Ms Hart said.
“Not only did he show a lack of sympathy towards a victim of alleged sexual assault, he also denied the very service VOCAT exists for – assisting victims and giving them a voice.”
Ms Hart said the firm had helped thousands of victims with VOCAT applications and she had “never previously heard of such insensitive comments by a Magistrate”.
Mr Pithouse, a former Hamilton solicitor, was appointed as a magistrate in 2008 by the then Labor Attorney-General, Rob Hulls.
The Herald Sun previously revealed in a series of articles in 2010 that Mr Pithouse:
MISTAKENLY drove to Ararat court when he was supposed to go to Ballarat court and after doing a U-turn and arriving late in Ballarat he created outrage when he made up for lost time by scrapping the heartfelt victim impact statement of a sexual assault victim who had flown from Queensland so she could read it to her attacker.
REFUSED to extend an interim intervention order granted by the courts to protect a schoolboy whose repeated verbal, psychological and physical attacks included his tormentors making a DVD depicting him being shot — the bullies started abusing him again soon after the order was lifted.
REJECTED a police application for an intervention order to protect the wife of a violent prisoner who was later stalked and attacked by her former partner.
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