25-year-old man sentenced in Townsville District Court for the rape of his 11-year-old cousin

A 25-year-old man who delayed his court case for two years, took off his shirt and threw it on the court floor as the details of how he groomed and raped his younger cousin were read aloud.

A 25-year-old man has been sentenced in Townsville District Court after he groomed and raped his 11-year-old cousin

It’s been five years since a warehouse employee was charged for sexually abusing his 11-year-old cousin, but despite his best efforts to “avoid” his sentencing day, he has finally had to face the consequences of his horrific offending.

The 25-year-old man appeared in the Townsville District Court on Friday, and sat shirtless in the dock after throwing his T-shirt on the ground as the details of his indecent treatment of a young boy were read aloud.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Butler said in 2019, the Bundaberg man began grooming his 11-year-old cousin and sent text messages asking him to send photos with specific T-shirts on; making professions of love and calling him his “sexy babe”.

During family visits the man, who was 18 at the time, would sexually abuse the young boy and on four separate occasions orally raped him.

“The offending was detected when the (boy’s) older brother observed the text messages …(he) then made disclosures to his mother” Ms Butler said.

Ms Butler said the “fairly significant delay” in the case was caused by the matter initially progressing through the mental health court before it was moved to the substantive courts where he delayed his case by either failing to appear, showing up drunk to appointments with his lawyers or replacing legal representatives multiple times.

In his victim impact statement the 11-year-old described his difficulties with people touching him as a result of the abuse.

The boy’s mother, who was present in court, wrote in her victim impact statement about her devastation and hurt that she can’t hug her son anymore as he now struggles with people touching him

His mother, who was present in court, explained in her victim impact statement her anger and hurt that she can no longer hug her son.

Defence barrister Tom Hancock said while the matter was progressing through the mental health court, a psychologist found the forklift operator to have an intellectual capacity 95 per cent lower than the general population, however he was eventually deemed fit to be moved to the substantive court.

“He was diagnosed with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder at a very young age,” he said.

Mr Hancock said despite his “intellectual limitations” he had a long employment history and had previously worked at an agricultural and farm supplies business, a building supplies warehouse and as a carpentry apprentice.

Judge Deborah Richards acknowledged his reduced intellectual abilities but said he still had “the capacity to manipulate the 11-year-old”.

“There’s a long history showing that your intellectual capacity is not the same as everybody else’s in the community but … you were still able to send messages to this boy trying to convince him that this was a relationship that was good,” she said.

“You were quite persistent in your attempts to continue your abuse of this boy, messaging him, asking him for photos, asking to sleep in the same bed next time you saw him because you loved him.”

“There was a significant delay in this but a large portion of that is because of your avoidance of this particular day.”

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to six charges of rape and six charges of indecent treatment of a child.

He was sentenced to five years in prison with a parole eligibility date of January 2, 2027.

Originally published as 25-year-old man sentenced in Townsville District Court for the rape of his 11-year-old cousin