Prison sentence for father who sexually assaulted his son's girlfriend

The 53-year-old man fronted the County Court in Ballarat on Monday to be sentenced after an earlier plea to a rolled-up charge of sexual assault.

The man will not be named to avoid identifying the victim.

The assaults happened over the course of two years between December 2017 and December 2019, while the young couple lived in a bungalow adjoining the man's property.

Throughout the two year period, the 17-year-old girl was leered at and touched on the buttocks by the 53-year-old several times, causing physical altercations between the man and his son.

On one occasion, the son punched the 53-year-old in the face after he touched the girl on her buttocks, resulting in a fight where the man threw an axe at his son.

On another occasion in 2018, the man told the girl he wanted to "have a threesome" with her and her mother. When the girl voiced her displeasure at the comment, the man said "I know you want it, no one has to know".

At a New Year's Eve party at the house on 2018, the man pressured the girl to smoke cannabis while his son was asleep in the bungalow.

It was the girl's first time smoking cannabis, and she became "highly affected", taking off all of her clothes.

A friend of the girls who remained at the party helped her put her clothes back on and took her outside for fresh air, after which the 53-year-old followed her and inappropriately touched her.

The friend pulled the man off of the girl and brought him inside.

Later in the evening, the girl was laying on a couch inside, sick from consuming cannabis, when the 53-year-old again began inappropriately touching her.

The 53-year-old told the girl's friend "we should take her pants off and do stuff to her", the court heard.

The friend woke up the man's son. The man was taken into the kitchen, where he had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital.

The young couple moved out of the man's home by 2021 to live with the 53-year-old's former partner. The girl reported the sexual assaults to the police on February 2021.

During this time, the 53-year-old man had entered a relationship with the victim's mother - something she said caused her emotional hardship in a victim impact tendered with the court.

The 53-year-old was arrested for the assaults in May 2021.

At Monday's sentencing hearing, Judge Damian Murphy said a prison sentence was necessary given the seriousness of the sexual assaults.

"Here you have a 19-year-old, he was in a position of trust vis-a-vis her, and he has committed serious sexual touching on her," Judge Murphy said.

"The community demands that the complainant be vindicated and the conduct of (the accused) be denounced."

The court heard the matter had been delayed due to scheduling issues and a failed attempt by the 53-year-old to change his plea in 2023.

The 53-year-old had taken a plea offer in April 2023, but had lodged an application to change his plea soon after. At a hearing in December 2023 the application was rejected.

Judge Murphy said the man had an "average risk of general reoffending", and showed no insight or remorse for his offending.

"Considerations of general deterrence and denunciation call for the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment," the judge said.

"The complainant, as a teen living in your household, as the girlfriend of your son, was entitled to pursue that relationship without you seeking your own sexual gratification."

The 53-year-old was given a nine-month prison sentence followed by a 12-month community corrections order. He will be placed on the sex offenders registry for eight years.

Judge Murphy said if the man did not plead guilty, and was later found guilty at a trial, he would have been given a 30 month prison sentence with a 20 month non-parole period.

As the hearing ended and Judge Murphy left the bench, the 53-year-old said "this is going to ruin my life".

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, or the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380