28-05-2025
Former senior church member sentenced for sexual assault of teen girl
A former senior member of a South Australian church will spend at least four months behind bars after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the early 2000s.
The 50-year-old man, from Christies Beach, was sentenced in South Australia's District Court on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse.
In sentencing, Judge Liesl Kudelka said she accepted the man was "genuinely remorseful and [had] taken steps in the past to apologise" but that he "should have known better".
"I do not consider there is any risk of you reoffending, however the harm is done."
Prosecutor Mitch Mott previously told the court the man was a "respected" member of the Impact Church at the time and had shown "continuing interest in the complainant".
Judge Kudelka outlined the events of that evening in her sentence and said the teenager had been staying with the then 29-year-old man to help look after his two children while his wife was away.
"The two of you drank alcohol together, I understand it was not usual for you to drink alcohol, you kissed her when you were both sitting on the couch, the two of you then moved to the bedroom [where the charged offending occurred]," she said.
"In the next day or so you drove [her] to a playground and kissed her when you were both at the top of the play equipment.
"You say you were trying to explain to her that the sexual contact that happened before should not have happened and could not continue.
"It seems, however, you didn't do a very good job of that on that day because you ended up kissing her."
The kiss in the days after the offending is not subject to any charges.
Judge Kudelka said the teenager was "vulnerable and struggling with challenges" at the time of the offending and "feels [the man] groomed her".
"As a 29-year-old man you took sexual advantage of a 14-year-old child," she said.
The man was sentenced to 16-months' imprisonment which was reduced to 12-months due to his early guilty plea.
He will be eligible for parole in four months.
