NSW share house owner found guilty of sexually assaulting two young women
Two 19-year-olds were sexually assaulted by their older, predatory housemate. Read his disturbing “excuse” for the “accusations” and chilling prior criminal record.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Two young women were sexually assaulted by a housemate in the place they were supposed to feel safest, a court has heard.
A man in his 30s who once owned a bustling restaurant on the NSW south coast could soon be getting used to jail after a jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault without consent.
Agreed facts tendered to Downing Centre District Court reveal the first victim was a 19-year-old woman who moved to regional NSW to work with her then partner.
The couple met the sexual assaulter on a night out and became friends.
Before long, the couple broke up and the woman needed somewhere to live. The assaulter suggested she move into a share house he owned – an offer she would grow to regret accepting.
He sent her texts referencing “moving in to have some fun” but the victim told him that was unlikely to happen and they were just friends, the agreed facts state.
On the first day of moving in, the assaulter had misled the victim by saying other people would be there, but they were alone.
The pair drank and smoked marijuana before they decided to move into the assaulter’s bedroom as it was winter and it was the only room with a heater.
According to the facts, the woman was sitting in front of the heater to warm up when the assaulter sat on the edge of the bed with one leg on either side of her and massaged her shoulders.
“The accused removed his erect penis from his pants and took hold of (the victim’s) hair and pulled her head around to the side, meaning his penis was in close proximity to her face,” the facts read.
“(The victim) said ‘what the f***’ to which the accused said ‘what?’. The accused used both hands to grab (the victim’s) head and twisted her round till she faced him, before pulling her head forward.”
Frightened, the woman tried to pull away but the assaulter kept forcing her head forward. Eventually she was able to break free.
The man was found guilty of sexual intercourse without consent relating to that incident.
The second young woman to be assaulted by the same man made two allegations against him. The first was that she had alleged she fell asleep in a bedroom and woke up with the man entering the room and pressuring her into having sex, the court heard.
The jury could not reach a verdict on that charge of rape, but they did find the man guilty on a separate charge of sexual intercourse without consent in relation to that woman.
In regards to the guilty charge, the agreed facts state the man told her to perform oral sex, which she “did out of fear of what he would do if she did not”.
The assaulter was arrested on January 23, 2019 and initially charged with five sexual offences relating to three young women. After three days of the jury deliberating, the man was found guilty of two charges and they could not reach a verdict on the others.
The other three – two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of assault with act of indecency – will likely go to a retrial.
During closing marks of the NSW District Court trial, Judge John Pickering SC summed up the arguments.
For the first assault that happened in front of the heater, Judge Pickering said the defence team claimed there was always consent and that she only complained later due to regret and “buyer’s remorse”.
Judge Pickering said the defence team also questioned the girls’ decisions to allege the acts on Facebook, causing the assaulter to threaten civil action against them for making what he said were false claims.
“He says this (court case) is part of her fabricated events to assist her friend and scare the accused from taking action against them,” he said.
According to court documents, the man has an unenviable criminal record.
The documents state he has previously been convicted of using a carriage service to procure a child for sex, sexually touch another person, stalk or intimidate and high range drink driving.
The man, who remains behind bars as he was refused bail, is next due to face Downing Centre District Court for arraignment on the three charges that could be subject to a retrial.
He is also set to face a sentence hearing for the two sexual assault charges he was convicted of at the same court on April 14.