County Court: Esala Tubailagi guilty of raping, assaulting woman
A father guilty of raping and assaulting a woman in locations across Geelong and Victoria, showed a “deep disrespect to women”, a court has heard.
A Geelong father, found guilty of raping and assaulting a woman showed a “deep disrespect to women”, a court has heard.
Esala Tubailagi, 40, appeared via videolink in the County Court on Friday for a plea hearing before Judge Kate Hawkins.
Tubailagi, now of Deer Park, had pleaded guilty to 13 counts of common law assault and a single count of criminal damage when he was arraigned before a jury on May 26.
However, Tubailagi pleaded not guilty to a rape charge and a trial followed.
On June 3, the jury found he was guilty of rape and Tubailagi was taken into custody.
Details of the offending were not aired in open court on Friday.
Some of it occurred in North Geelong, Dandenong and Ballarat, however, most of the charges, including the rape, property damage and numerous common assaults, took place in Lara.
Tubailagi’s lawyer, barrister John Desmond, said his client had been willing to plead to the assaults in August 2024, and the case had been hanging over Tubailagi for a long time.
“The delay in the outcome of the proceedings has caused anxiety to the accused for the number of years,” Mr Desmond said.
The court heard Tubailagi was field interviewed by police on October 2, 2012 in relation to one of the charges, and formally interviewed on March 14, 2016.
The complainant’s formal statement was signed on October 21, 2020, and Tubailagi was interviewed again on April 8, 2021.
Mr Desmond said Tubailagi’s prospects of rehabilitation should be considered “fair” as he had taken “significant steps” towards rehabilitation in the intervening years and had a limited criminal history.
His current predicament marked his first time in custody, and Mr Desmond asked the court to impose the “minimal amount of jail time”.
The court heard the Fijian was a permanent resident after emigrating to Australia in 2009 but now faced deportation.
Mr Desmond tendered and read aloud from various character references, including those written by Tubailagi’s current partner, mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
A total of 21 character references had been gathered on Tubailagi’s behalf, with eight needing to be signed or dated before they could be tendered.
A psychologist, who had prepared a report, diagnosed Tubailagi with alcohol use and borderline personality disorders, as well as “intermittent” bouts of major depressive disorder.
Alcohol use had been a “heavy factor” in the offending, Mr Desmond said, noting his client’s crimes, while “outrageous” were dated.
“This is not just a situation of a man or a person having moved on, there is palpable evidence that he has turned, and is turning, his life around,” Mr Desmond said.
Crown prosecutor Yildana Hardjadibrata said Tubailagi’s conduct had shown a “deep disrespect to women” but noted the programs Tubailagi had started in prison, including those that address his drinking, were “important factors in the process of his rehabilitation”.
Tubailagi will be sentenced in October.
Originally published as County Court: Esala Tubailagi guilty of raping, assaulting woman
