A 26-year-old man, who followed and raped a teenager in broad daylight on a central Ballarat street, has been jailed for eight years and placed on the sex offender's register for life.
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The 19-year-old woman had been out shopping in the Bridge Mall at 11am on March 5, 2019, when Jessie Wright attacked her.
He was walking in the opposite direction of the woman when she stopped at a pedestrian crossing and crouched down to light a cigarette.
In Wright's words, he "had a bit of a perv at her" and as he walked away from her, he thought she was attractive and decided to turn and follow her and "grab her arse or something".
Wright caught up to the woman on Grenville Street North and while she stopped to check the traffic he grabbed her from behind and held her by her shoulders.
He then reached up under the teenager's dress, pulled her underwear to one side and digitally sexually penetrated her while she yelled, "get off me".
Wright let her go a short time later and ran behind Rebel Sport and back onto Grenville Street. As he passed the court complex, he decided to hand himself into the Ballarat Police Station.
Three men, who had witnessed the attack, approached the teenager and comforted her. She then followed Wright and phoned triple-0.
Wright, who was on bail at the time of the offending, was sentenced as a serious sex offender at the County Court of Victoria on Friday.
He has similar prior convictions of four counts of sexual assault.
"Because of your prior convictions, you fall to be sentenced as a serious sexual offender and protection of the community becomes the principle purpose for which sentence is imposed," Judge Chris Ryan said.
"Your offending is a serious example of offending of its kind. Although there was limited premeditation prior to your offending, you had walked away from your victim and then decided to offend against her.
"You pursued her in broad daylight in a public place and raped her."
The judge said although Wright handed himself into police immediately after the incident, he did not admit to sexually penetrating the woman.
"You entered a plea at the earliest possible opportunity. You are entitled to a substantial benefit for surrendering yourself to police and you are entitled to the benefits that flow from your early pleas of guilty, namely it has utilitarian benefit and it is some evidence of your remorse," Judge Ryan said.
The court was told Wright had started drinking alcohol at age 10 and was using methamphetamine at 18, and he suffered from a serious psychiatric illness.
But the judge said there was insufficient material to find a connection to Wright's illness and the offending.
"It appears that you have limited impulse control and limited insight into your psychiatric illness despite being appropriately treated with anti-psychotic medication," Judge Ryan said.
"Accordingly, specific deterrence must also be moderated in your case. However the community must be protected from you. In addition, your conduct must be publicly denounced and justly punished."
In placing Wright on the sex offender's register for life, Judge Ryan said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Wright posed a risk to the sexual safety of one or more persons.
Wright, who pleaded guilty to one count of rape, will be eligible for parole in six years. He has served 434 days of his sentence in pre-sentence detention.
If he did not plead guilty, Wright would have received 10 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of eight years, according to the judge.
Wright appeared in the dock of the County Court in Melbourne for the sentencing hearing.
Affected by this story? There is help available. You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292. Or phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380, or Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.
